Tokyo Electron Limited

Materials Research Corporation

Sony Corporation

Other

Spectrum Cvd, Inc.

Joseph T Hillman

Robert F Foster

Michael S Ameen

Rene E LeBlanc

Gerrit J Leusink

Tugrul Yasar

Steven P Caliendo

Rikhit Arora

Chantal Arena

Douglas A Webb

Michael G Ward

Carl Louis White

Cory Wajda

Richard Charles Westhoff

Gert J Leusink

Bentley J Palmer

Thomas J Licata

Stanislaw Kopacz

Jon R MacErnie

Robert Clark Rowan, Jr

Ronald T Bertram

Emmanuel Guidotti

John J Hautala

Yumiko Kawano

Hideaki Yamasaki

Yasuhiko Kojima

Kohei Kawamura

J B Price

Audunn Ludviksson

Glyn J Reynolds

Vincent Vezin

Kenichi Kubo

Chantal J Arena-Foster

Hideki Yoshikawa

Glenn W Gale

W Chuck Ramsey

Akira Asano

Gunilla Jacobson

John G North

William M Triggs

Brian Shekerjian

Koutarou Miyatani

Jacques Faguet

Ching-Ping Fang

Tayler Bao

Jerry Yeh

Method and apparatus for controlling the migration of reaction by-product gases from a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process chamber to a transfer vacuum chamber shared by other process chambers. Separate regulated flows of purge gas are provided to the CVD process chamber and the transfer vacuum chamber before establishing a pathway for substrate transfer. A pressure differential is created between the transfer vacuum chamber and the CVD process chamber that reduces or prevents the migration of CVD reaction by-product gases arising from the establishment of the substrate transfer pathway. While the pathway is established, a directional flow of purge gas is maintained from the transfer vacuum chamber into the CVD process chamber.

Method and apparatus for controlling the movement of CVD reaction byproduct gases to adjacent process chambers

A method for the pre-treatment of a wafer substrates with exposed metal surfaces is disclosed. The pre-treatment reduces oxidation of the exposed metal surfaces during subsequent supercritical cleaning processes.

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A method for treating a fluoro-carbon dielectric film for integration of the dielectric film into a semiconductor device. The method includes providing a substrate having a fluoro-carbon film deposited thereon, the film having an exposed surface containing contaminants, and treating the exposed surface with a supercritical carbon dioxide fluid to clean the exposed surface of the contaminants and provide surface termination. The supercritical carbon dioxide treatment improves adhesion and electrical properties of film structures containing a metal-containing film formed on the surface of the fluoro-carbon dielectric film.

Method for supercritical carbon dioxide processing of fluoro-carbon films

A method and system for processing a substrate in a film removal system. The method includes providing the substrate in a substrate chamber of a film removal system, where the substrate has a micro-feature containing a dielectric film on a sidewall of the micro-feature and a photoresist film covering a portion the dielectric film, and performing a first film removal process using supercritical COprocessing to remove the portion of the dielectric film not covered by the photoresist film. Following the first film removal process, a second film removal process using supercritical COprocessing can be performed to remove the photoresist film. Alternately, wet processing can be used to perform one of the first film removal process or the second film removal process.

System and method for processing a substrate using supercritical carbon dioxide processing

A method to redistribute solid copper deposited by PVD on a wafer topography. The deposited copper is solubilized in a fluid for redistribution. The copper redistribution prevents inherent nonuniformity of the deposited copper film thickness by improving the uniformity of thickness of the copper film on the covered surfaces, such as vertical and bottom surfaces. The method provides the advantages of good adhesion and good grain growth and orientation that are achieved with copper deposited by PVD, and also provides the good step coverage as achieved with copper deposited by CVD.

Redistribution of copper deposited films

A methodology is described by which a processing chamber used to deposit plasma-enhanced Ti-CVD films may be conditioned and passivated efficiently after either a wet cleaning or in-situ chemical cleaning, or after each successive deposition sequence. The technique allows a CVD process, such as, for example, a Ti-PECVD process, to recover film properties, such as resistivity, uniformity, and deposition rate, in a minimum time and following a minimum number of conditioning wafers, thereby improving the productivity of the system. The technique also maintains the stability of the system during continuous operation. This allows for the processing of thousands of wafers between in-situ cleaning of the chamber. Immediately following chamber cleaning and before performing the Ti-CVD process on wafers, the methodology includes forming a plasma with reactive gas to heat reactor components, then adding the coating material containing reactant to deposit the coating material onto the reactor components, then introducing an oxidizing or reducing gas into the chamber to stabilize the coating on the reactor parts, followed by resumption of the wafer coating process. During continuous operation in the Ti-CVD of wafers, the methodology includes introducing a mixture of Ar and H gases forming a plasma to heat reactor components where necessary, then introducing and chemically reducing TiCl to deposit Ti on the heated reactor components, then introducing oxidizing or reducing gas into the chamber for a period of time necessary to stabilize the Ti film. Preferably, N and NH are introduced and wafer passivation and reactor stabilization are performed simultaneously. Stabilization of the reactor only, and in some cases also the wafer, may use NH , H O, O or other gases.

Method of passivating and stabilizing a Ti-PECVD process chamber and combined Ti-PECVD/TiN-CVD processing method and apparatus

A method for chemical vapor deposition comprises providing a thin layer of silicon on the surface of a dielectric-covered substrate prior to depositing a tantalum-based barrier layer from a mixture of a vapor-phase reactant comprising a tantalum halide and a reducing gas. The thin layer of silicon serves to significantly reduce the accumulation of halogen atoms at the interface between the tantalum-based layer and dielectric. The thin layer of silicon may be substantially removed from the surface of the dielectric during the chemical vapor deposition. The method advantageously promotes the adhesion of the tantalum-based layer to the dielectric by reducing the halogen content at the tantalum/dielectric interface.

Method for enhancing the adhesion of a barrier layer to a dielectric

Apparatus and method of processing a substrate comprises positioning a substrate within a processing space of a processing chamber, and depositing a material layer, such as a titanium-containing layer, onto the substrate using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The substrate is then removed from the processing chamber and the processing space is purged. A gas mixture containing oxygen is then introduced into the processing space and the gas mixture is excited with RF energy to form an oxygen-containing plasma. The oxygen-containing plasma is sustained for a predetermined amount of time in the processing space.

Method for stabilizing the internal surface of a PECVD process chamber

Method for depositing a nitrified tantalum silicide barrier film on a semiconductor device including a silicon-based substrate with recessed features by low temperature thermal CVD of tantalum silicide and subsequent nitrification. The nitrified tantalum silicide barrier film exhibits high conformality and low fluorine or chlorine impurity content. A specific embodiment of the method includes depositing tantalum silicide by TCVD from the reaction of a TaF or TaCl precursor vapor with silane gas on a 250&deg; C.-450&deg; C. heated substrate, then exposing the tantalum silicide to a thermal NH treatment or an NH &mdash; or N -containing plasma treatment.

Method for depositing conformal nitrified tantalum silicide films by thermal CVD

A semiconductor device including a silicon-based substrate with recessed features and a tantalum barrier film having at least about 5% silicon incorporated substantially uniformly throughout the film. The device may further include a tantalum barrier film having improved conformality and decreased halogen impurity content. A method for incorporating the silicon into the tantalum barrier layer includes depositing tantalum by PECVD and interrupting deposition at least once to treat the deposited tantalum with a silane containing plasma.

Method for incorporating silicon into CVD metal films

A CVD reactor is provided with a precursor delivery system that is integrally connected to the reactor chamber. Liquid precursor such as a copper or other metal-organic precursor is atomized at the entry of a high flow-conductance vaporizer, preferably with the assistance of an inert sweep gas. Liquid precursor is maintained, when in an unstable liquid state, at or below room temperature. In the vaporizer, heat is introduced to uniformly heat the atomized precursor. The vaporized precursor is passed into a diffuser which diffuses the vapor, either directly or through a showerhead, into the reaction chamber.

Apparatus and method for delivery of precursor vapor from low vapor pressure liquid sources to a CVD chamber

A method of forming diffusion barrier stacks on a dielectric for a dual damascene metal chip-level interconnect, and a diffusion barrier stack produced thereby. Alternating layers of a metal and an electrically resistive diffusion barrier are deposited on a dielectric substrate, with different layers having different thicknesses appropriate to their functions in the device. In an example of the present invention, alternating layers of tantalum and tantalum nitride are deposited on a dielectric substrate.

Optimized liners for dual damascene metal wiring

A method for forming modulated tantalum/tantalum nitride diffusion barrier stacks on semiconductor device substrates used in interconnect structures. Alternating layers of tantalum and tantalum nitride are deposited onto the semiconductor device substrate by chemical vapor deposition from a tantalum pentafluoride precursor vapor, with intermittent ammonia plasma treatment of the tantalum and tantalum nitride such that each tantalum layer and each tantalum nitride layer are treated at least once to thereby reduce the evolution of HF gas, thereby improving the adhesion and durability of the film stacks during subsequent elevated temperature processing.

Method for improving the adhesion and durability of CVD tantalum and tantalum nitride modulated films by plasma treatment

A method for chemical vapor deposition comprises providing a quantity of nitrogen at the interface between a transition metal-based material and an underlying dielectric-covered substrate. The nitrogen can be provided by heating the substrate in an atmosphere of a nitrogen-containing process gas or by exposing the surface of the dielectric-covered substrate to a plasma generated from a nitrogen-containing process gas. In certain embodiments, the nitrogen on the surface of the dielectric is bound with atoms of a transition metal to form a thin layer of a transition metal nitride. The method promotes the adhesion of the transition metal-based layer to the dielectric by nullifying the effect of halogen atoms that are also incorporated at the transition metal/dielectric interface.

Method for pretreating dielectric layers to enhance the adhesion of CVD metal layers thereto

A chemical vapor deposition (CVD) apparatus for depositing a low vapor pressure copper precursor onto a silicon wafer. The CVD apparatus includes a CVD reaction chamber with an interior containing a substrate holder adapted to support a substrate, such as a silicon wafer, at a predetermined position within the CVD reaction chamber. An ultrasonic nebulizer is operatively connected to the CVD reaction chamber and is adapted to connect to a source of liquid precursor. The ultrasonic nebulizer has an atomizing discharge end adapted to atomize the liquid precursor and deposit the atomized precursor onto a substrate supported by the substrate holder. A gas distribution ring is disposed within the interior of the CVD reaction chamber for discharging a directionally oriented gas into the atomized precursor to direct the atomized precursor toward the substrate. Additional embodiments and methods for depositing the precursor are described.

Precursor deposition using ultrasonic nebulizer

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Scottsdale, AZ, United States of America

Joseph T Hillman