Advanced Micro Devices Corporation

Globalfoundries Inc.

Katja Huy

Hartmut Ruelke

Markus Lenski

Thorsten E Kammler

Kai Frohberg

Michael D Turner

Volker Kahlert

Christoph Schwan

Karla Romero

Sven Muehle

Hartmut Rülke

By reducing a deposition rate and maintaining a low bias power in a plasma atmosphere, a spacer layer, for example a silicon nitride layer, may be deposited that exhibits tensile stress. The amount of tensile stress is controllable within a wide range, thereby providing the potential for forming sidewall spacer elements that modify the charge carrier mobility and thus the conductivity of the channel region of a field effect transistor.

Spacer for a gate electrode having tensile stress and a method of forming the same

Wafer-to-wafer thickness uniformity may be improved significantly in a process for depositing a silicon nitride layer in that the flow rate of the reactant and the chamber pressure are varied during a deposition cycle. By correspondingly adapting the flow rate and/or the chamber pressure before and after the actual deposition step, the process conditions may be more effectively stabilized, thereby reducing process variations, even after non-deposition phases of the deposition tool, such as a preceding plasma clean process or an idle period of the tool.

Method of improving the wafer-to-wafer thickness uniformity of silicon nitride layers

A method for forming a silicon dioxide cap layer for a carbon hard mask layer for patterning of polysilicon line features having critical dimensions of 50 nm and less is provided. To this end, a low temperature plasma enhanced CVD process is used in which the deposition rate is maintained low to provide improved controllability of the layer thickness and, thus, of the optical characteristics of the silicon dioxide layer.

Method of forming a TEOS cap layer at low temperature and reduced deposition rate

By performing a re-sputter process during the formation of a barrier layer for a contact opening in a tungsten-based process, the reliability of the tungsten deposition, as well as the performance of the resulting contact plug, may be enhanced. During the re-sputtering process, a thickness of the titanium-based barrier layer may be reduced at the contact bottom, while at the same time the material is re-condensed on critical lower sidewall portions of the contact opening.

Method for forming a tungsten interconnect structure with enhanced sidewall coverage of the barrier layer

The present invention provides a nitrogen-free ARC layer, which is formed on the basis of silane and carbon dioxide by PECVD in a nitrogen-free deposition atmosphere. The optical characteristics may be tuned in a wide range, wherein, in particular, a back reflection into the resist is maintained at 3% or less. The ARC layer is well suited for 193 nm lithography.

Nitrogen-free ARC layer and a method of manufacturing the same

The present invention provides a technique that enables the formation of a recessed spacer element by using an anisotropically deposited etch stop layer. Accordingly, in subsequent cleaning processes, material residues of the etch stop layer may be efficiently removed from upper sidewall portions of a line element, thereby increasing the available area for a diffusion path in a subsequent silicidation process. The anisotropic deposition of the etch stop layer may be accomplished by high density plasma enhanced CVD or by directional sputter techniques.

Technique for forming a spacer for a line element by using an etch stop layer deposited by a highly directional deposition technique

In a double-spacer or multi-spacer approach to the formation of sophisticated field effect transistors, an upper sidewall portion of a gate electrode may be effectively exposed during recessing of an outer spacer element, since the outer spacer is substantially comprised of the same material as the liner material. Consequently, the anisotropic etch process for recessing the outer sidewall spacer also efficiently removes liner residues on the upper sidewall portion and provides an increased diffusion path for a refractory metal. Additionally, the lateral extension of the silicide regions on the drain and source area may be increased by correspondingly controlling an isotropic etch process for removing oxide residues.

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Dresden, Germany

Katja Huy