Asm International N.v.

Martin Knapp

Suvi P Haukka

Menso Hendriks

Guido Probst

Films are deposited on a substrate by a process in which atomic layer deposition (ALD) is used to deposit one layer of the film and pulsed chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is used to deposit another layer of the film. During the ALD part of the process, a layer is formed by flowing sequential and alternating pulses of mutually reactive reactants that deposit self-limitingly on a substrate. During the pulsed CVD part of the process, another layer is deposited by flowing two CVD reactants into a reaction chamber, with at least a first of the CVD reactants flowed into the reaction chamber in pulses, with those pulses overlapping at least partially with the flow of a second of the CVD reactants. The ALD and CVD parts of the process ca be used to deposit layers with different compositions, thereby forming, e.g., nanolaminate films. Preferably, high quality layers are formed by flowing the second CVD reactant into the reaction chamber for a longer total duration than the first CVD reactant. In some embodiments, the pulses of the third reactant at separated by a duration at least about 1.75 times the length of the pulse. Preferably, less than about 8 monolayers of material are deposited per pulse of the first CVD reactant.

Method for depositing thin films by mixed pulsed CVD and ALD

Titanium silicon nitride (TiSiN) films are formed in a cyclic chemical vapor deposition process. In some embodiments, the TiSiN films are formed in a batch reactor using TiCl, NHand SiHas precursors. Substrates are provided in a deposition chamber of the batch reactor. In each deposition cycle, a TiN layer is formed on the substrates by flowing TiClinto the deposition chamber simultaneously with NH. The deposition chamber is subsequently flushed with NH. to prepare the TiN layer for silicon incorporation. SiHis subsequently flowed into the deposition chamber. Silicon from the SiHis incorporated into the TiN layers to form TiSiN. Exposing the TiN layers to NHbefore the silicon precursor has been found to facilitate efficient silicon incorporation into the TiN layers to form TiSiN.

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Laufen, Germany

Martin Knapp