Tokyo Electron Limited

International Business Machines Corporation

Jonathan Rullan

Kenji Suzuki

Miho Jomen

Conal Eugene Murray

Tadahiro Ishizaka

Lynne Marie Gignac

Oliver C Wells

A method is provided for void-free copper (Cu) filling of recessed features in a semiconductor device. The method includes providing a patterned substrate containing a recessed feature, depositing a barrier film on the patterned substrate, including in the recessed feature, depositing a Ru metal film on the barrier film, and depositing a discontinuous Cu seed layer on the Ru metal film, where the Cu seed layer partially covers the Ru metal film in the recessed feature. The method further includes exposing the substrate to an oxidation source gas that oxidizes the Cu seed layer and the portion of the Ru metal film not covered by the Cu seed layer, heat-treating the oxidized Cu seed layer and the oxidized Ru metal film under high vacuum conditions or in the presence of an inert gas to activate the oxidized Ru metal film for Cu plating, and filling the recessed feature with bulk Cu metal. The exposure to the oxidation source gas can be an air exposure commonly encountered in semiconductor device manufacturing prior to Cu plating.

Void-free copper filling of recessed features for semiconductor devices

A method for integrating low-temperature selective Ru metal deposition into manufacturing of semiconductor devices to improve electromigration and stress migration in bulk Cu metal. The method includes providing a patterned substrate containing a recessed feature in a dielectric layer, where the recessed feature is at least substantially filled with planarized bulk Cu metal, heat-treating the bulk Cu metal and the dielectric layer in the presence of H, N, or NH, or a combination thereof, and selectively depositing a Ru metal film on the heat-treated planarized bulk Cu metal.

Method for integrating selective low-temperature ruthenium deposition into copper metallization of a semiconductor device

A method of measurement of topographic features on a surface of a substrate is presented, wherein a focused beam of particles falls onto the surface of the substrate, and backscattered particles are detected with a particle detector. An opaque material is interposed between the surface and the detector, and the position of the shadow of an edge of the opaque material on the detector is recorded. The relative position of the edge and the surface of the substrate is then determined, and the topography of the surface determined as the particle beam and the substrate are moved with respect to one another.

Method for SEM measurement of topological features

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Jonathan Rullan