Applied Materials, Inc.

Pramit Manna

Abhijit Basu Mallick

Eswaranand Venkatasubramanian

Rui Cheng

Shishi Jiang

Samuel E Gottheim

Srinivas Gandikota

Takehito Koshizawa

Karthik Janakiraman

Susmit Singha Roy

Yihong Chen

Kartik Ramaswamy

Yang Yang

Deenesh Padhi

Bok Hoen Kim

Timothy Joseph Franklin

Kurtis Leschkies

Ludovic Godet

Robert Jan Visser

Kelvin Chan

Ziqing Duan

Nancy Fung

Adam J Fischbach

Edward L Haywood

Jui-Yuan Hsu

Srinivas D Nemani

Christopher Dennis Bencher

Mukund Srinivasan

Bencherki Mebarki

Ho-yung David Hwang

Bhaskar Kumar

Erica Chen

Krishna Nittala

Tejinder Singh

Li Yan Miao

Stephen Charles Garner

David P Thompson

Steven Verhaverbeke

Mehul B Naik

Mark Joseph Saly

Ganesh Balasubramanian

Prerna Sonthalia Goradia

Derek R Witty

Swaminathan T Srinivasan

Tomohiko Kitajima

Bo Qi

Patrick Reilly

Kaushik Comandoor Alayavalli

Mandar Balasaheb Pandit

Vinayak Vishwanath Hassan

Heung Lak Park

Shahid Shaikh

Ranga Rao Arnepalli

Amrita B Mullick

Anup Kumar Singh

Nilesh Chimanrao Bagul

Huiyuan Wang

Harry S Whitesell

Swayambhu Prasad Behera

Darshan Thakare

Rick Kustra

Tersem Summan

Ellie Y Yieh

Chi-I Lang

He Ren

Bhaskar Jyoti Bhuyan

Mandyam Sriram

Tza-Jing Gung

Huixiong Dai

Fei C Wang

Wei V Tang

Christopher S Ngai

Diwakar N Kedlaya

Lakmal Charidu Kalutarage

Daniel Lee Diehl

Kien Nai Chuc

Jun Xue

Atashi Basu

Yong Wu

Geetika Bajaj

Khokan Chandra Paul

Yongmei Chen

Tapash Chakraborty

Keiichi Tanaka

Carlaton Wong

Kiran V Thadani

Jialiang Wang

Miaojun Wang

Amit Chatterjee

Rajaram Narayanan

Chi Lu

Suresh Chand Seth

Andrew Short

Tejasvi Ashok

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to methods for depositing an amorphous carbon layer onto a substrate, including over previously formed layers on the substrate, using a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) process. In particular, the methods described herein utilize a combination of RF AC power and pulsed DC power to create a plasma which deposits an amorphous carbon layer with a high ratio of sp3 (diamond-like) carbon to sp2 (graphite-like) carbon. The methods also provide for lower processing pressures, lower processing temperatures, and higher processing powers, each of which, alone or in combination, may further increase the relative fraction of sp3 carbon in the deposited amorphous carbon layer. As a result of the higher sp3 carbon fraction, the methods described herein provide amorphous carbon layers having improved density, rigidity, etch selectivity, and film stress as compared to amorphous carbon layers deposited by conventional methods.

Pulsed plasma (DC/RF) deposition of high quality C films for patterning

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to deposition of high transparency, high-density carbon films for patterning applications. In one embodiment, a method of forming a carbon film on a substrate is provided. The method includes flowing a hydrocarbon-containing gas mixture into a process chamber having a substrate positioned on an electrostatic chuck, wherein the substrate is maintained at a temperature of about −10° C. to about 20° C. and a chamber pressure of about 0.5 mTorr to about 10 Torr, and generating a plasma by applying a first RF bias to the electrostatic chuck to deposit a diamond-like carbon film containing about 60% or greater hybridized spatoms on the substrate, wherein the first RF bias is provided at a power of about 1800 Watts to about 2200 Watts and at a frequency of about 40 MHz to about 162 MHz.

High density carbon films for patterning applications

A method of processing a substrate is provided including flowing a deposition gas comprising a hydrocarbon compound and a dopant compound into a process volume having a substrate disposed positioned on a substrate support. The process volume is maintained at a pressure of about 0.5 mTorr to about 10 mTorr. The method includes generating a plasma at the substrate by applying a first RF bias to the substrate support to deposit a doped diamond-like carbon film on the substrate. The doped diamond-like carbon film includes about 5 at. % to about 25 at. % of dopant and a first stress property. The method includes annealing the doped diamond-like carbon film at about 220° C. to about 450° C. to form an annealed film. The annealed film includes a second stress property. The second stress property having an absolute value less than or within 10% the first stress property.

Methods of forming thermally stable carbon film

Methods for depositing film comprising cyclical exposure of a substrate surface to a precursor and a degas environment to remove gas evolved from the film. Some embodiments further comprise the incorporation poisoning the top of a feature to inhibit film growth at the top of the feature. Some embodiments further comprising etching a portion of the film deposited at the top of a feature between cycles to increase gap-fill uniformity.

Deposition of conformal and gap-fill amorphous silicon thin-films

A method for cleaning one or more interior surfaces of a processing chamber includes removing a processed substrate from the processing chamber, and introducing a first cleaning chemistry into the processing chamber to generate a first internal pressure of greater than 1.1 atm within the processing chamber and remove deposited contaminants from the one or more interior surfaces of the processing chamber. The method further comprises removing the cleaning chemistry from the processing chamber.

Conditioning of a processing chamber

Methods of processing thin film by oxidation at high pressure are described. The methods are generally performed at pressures greater than 2 bar. The methods can be performed at lower temperatures and have shorter exposure times than similar methods performed at lower pressures. Some methods relate to oxidizing tungsten films to form self-aligned pillars.

High pressure oxidation of metal films

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to methods for cleaning a chamber comprising introducing a gas to a processing volume of the chamber, providing a first radiofrequency (RF) power having a first frequency of about 40 MHz or greater to a lid of the chamber, providing a second RF power having a second frequency to an electrode disposed in a substrate support within the processing volume, and removing at least a portion of a film disposed on a surface of a chamber component of the chamber. The second frequency is about 10 MHz to about 20 MHz.

Method of using dual frequency RF power in a process chamber

Embodiments herein provide methods of plasma treating an amorphous silicon layer deposited using a flowable chemical vapor deposition (FCVD) process. In one embodiment, a method of processing a substrate includes plasma treating an amorphous silicon layer by flowing a substantially silicon-free hydrogen treatment gas into a processing volume of a processing chamber, the processing volume having the substrate disposed on a substrate support therein, forming a treatment plasma of the substantially silicon-free hydrogen treatment gas, and exposing the substrate having the amorphous silicon layer deposited on a surface thereof to the treatment plasma. Herein, the amorphous silicon layer is deposited using an FCVD process. The FCVD process includes positioning the substrate on the substrate support, flowing a processing gas into the processing volume, forming a deposition plasma of the processing gas, exposing the surface of the substrate to the deposition plasma, and depositing the amorphous silicon layer on the surface of the substrate.

Flowable film curing using H2 plasma

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to deposition of high transparency, high-density carbon films for patterning applications. In one embodiment, a method of forming a carbon film on a substrate is provided. The method includes flowing a hydrocarbon-containing gas mixture into a process chamber having a substrate positioned on an electrostatic chuck, wherein the substrate is maintained at a temperature of about &#x2212;10&#xb0; C. to about 20&#xb0; C. and a chamber pressure of about 0.5 mTorr to about 10 Torr, and generating a plasma by applying a first RF bias to the electrostatic chuck to deposit a diamond-like carbon film containing about 60% or greater hybridized spatoms on the substrate, wherein the first RF bias is provided at a power of about 1800 Watts to about 2200 Watts and at a frequency of about 40 MHz to about 162 MHz.

Embodiments herein provide methods of depositing an amorphous carbon layer using a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) process and hard masks formed therefrom. In one embodiment, a method of processing a substrate includes positioning a substrate on a substrate support, the substrate support disposed in a processing volume of a processing chamber, flowing a processing gas comprising a hydrocarbon gas and a diluent gas into the processing volume, maintaining the processing volume at a processing pressure less than about 100 mTorr, igniting and maintaining a deposition plasma of the processing gas by applying a first power to one of one or more power electrodes of the processing chamber, maintaining the substrate support at a processing temperature less than about 350&#xb0; C., exposing a surface of the substrate to the deposition plasma, and depositing an amorphous carbon layer on the surface of the substrate.

Carbon hard masks for patterning applications and methods related thereto

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to methods of depositing carbon film layers greater than 3,000 &#x212b; in thickness over a substrate and surface of a lid of a chamber using dual frequency, top, sidewall and bottom sources. The method includes introducing a gas to a processing volume of a chamber. A first radiofrequency (RF) power is provided having a first frequency of about 40 MHz or greater to a lid of the chamber. A second RF power is provided having a second frequency to a bias electrode disposed in a substrate support within the processing volume. The second frequency is about 10 MHz to about 40 MHz. An additional third RF power is provided having lower frequency of about 400 kHz to about 2 MHz to the bias electrode.

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to methods of forming hardmasks. Embodiments described herein enable, e.g., formation of carbon-containing hardmasks having reduced film stress. In an embodiment, a method of processing a substrate is provided. The method includes positioning a substrate in a processing volume of a processing chamber and depositing a diamond-like carbon (DLC) layer on the substrate. After depositing the DLC layer, the film stress is reduced by performing a plasma treatment, wherein the plasma treatment comprises applying a radio frequency (RF) bias power of about 100 W to about 10,000 W.

Methods of forming hardmasks

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the fabrication of integrated circuits. More particularly, the implementations described herein provide techniques for deposition of high quality gapfill. Some embodiments utilize chemical vapor deposition, plasma vapor deposition, physical vapor deposition and combinations thereof to deposit the gapfill. The gapfill is of high quality and similar in properties to similarly composed bulk materials.

High bias deposition of high quality gapfill

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the fabrication of integrated circuits. More particularly, the embodiments described herein provide methods for producing reduced-stress diamond-like carbon films for patterning applications. In one or more embodiments, a method includes flowing a deposition gas containing a hydrocarbon compound into a processing volume of a process chamber having a substrate positioned on an electrostatic chuck and generating a plasma above the substrate in the processing volume by applying a first RF bias to the electrostatic chuck to deposit a stressed diamond-like carbon film on the substrate. The stressed diamond-like carbon film has a compressive stress of &#x2212;500 MPa or greater. The method further includes heating the stressed diamond-like carbon film to produce a reduced-stress diamond-like carbon film during a thermal annealing process. The reduced-stress diamond-like carbon film has a compressive stress of less than &#x2212;500 MPa.

Methods for producing high-density carbon films for hardmasks and other patterning applications

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the fabrication of integrated circuits. More particularly, the embodiments described herein provide techniques for depositing nitrogen-doped diamond-like carbon films for patterning applications. In one or more embodiments, a method for processing a substrate includes flowing a deposition gas containing a hydrocarbon compound and a nitrogen dopant compound into a processing volume of a process chamber having a substrate positioned on an electrostatic chuck, and generating a plasma at or above the substrate by applying a first RF bias to the electrostatic chuck to deposit a nitrogen-doped diamond-like carbon film on the substrate. The nitrogen-doped diamond-like carbon film has a density of greater than 1.5 g/cc and a compressive stress of about &#x2212;20 MPa to less than &#x2212;600 MPa.

Methods for producing high-density, nitrogen-doped carbon films for hardmasks and other patterning applications

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Sunnyvale, CA, United States of America

Pramit Manna