Applied Materials, Inc.

Linh Thanh

Mei Yin Chang

John C Forster

Arvind Sundarrajan

Bo Zheng

Suketu Arun Parikh

Christopher S Ngai

Bencherki Mebarki

Nagarajan Rajagopalan

Murali K Narasimhan

Amit Khandelwal

Joe Feng

Meiyee (Maggie Le) Shek

Umesh M Kellkar

Methods and apparatus for removing oxide from a surface, the surface comprising at least one of silicon and germanium, are provided. The method and apparatus are particularly suitable for removing native oxide from a metal silicide layer of a contact structure. The method and apparatus advantageously integrate both the etch stop layer etching process and the native oxide removal process in a single chamber, thereby eliminating native oxide growth or other contaminates redeposit during the substrate transfer processes. Furthermore, the method and the apparatus also provides the improved three-step chemical reaction process to efficiently remove native oxide from the metal silicide layer without adversely altering the geometry of the contact structure and the critical dimension of the trenches or vias formed in the contact structure.

Methods for contact clean

A method for fabricating a semiconductor device is described. A substrate is provided having a patterned dielectric layer disposed thereon. A trench is formed in the dielectric layer. The surfaces of the trench are treated with an ammonia-based plasma process. A metal layer is then formed in the trench.

Ammonia-based plasma treatment for metal fill in narrow features

A method for forming a microelectronics device is disclosed. In one embodiment, the method includes depositing a conductive structure on a substrate. A first layer comprising silicon and nitrogen is formed on the substrate. A second layer comprising silicon and nitrogen is then formed on the first layer. The nitrogen to silicon ratio in the first layer is greater than the nitrogen to silicon ratio in the second layer.

Method for forming silicon containing layers on a substrate

Growing community of inventors

Cupertino, CA, United States of America

Linh Thanh