Applied Materials, Inc.

Ryeun Kwan Kim

Bok Hoen Kim

Xinhai Han

Praket Prakash Jha

Sang Hyuk Kim

Sanjeev Baluja

Thomas Jongwan Kwon

Michael Wenyoung Tsiang

Mayur G Kulkarni

Hyung Jin Park

Jason K Foster

Allen Ko

Majid K Shahreza

Byung Ho Kil

Myung Hun Ju

Jin Chul Son

Saiprasanna Gnanavelu

Alan A Ritchie

Wei Ti Lee

Ted Tie Guo

Mohd Fadzli Anwar Hassan

Yen-Chih Wang

Hyung Chul Park

The present disclosure generally relate to thin films incorporating high aspect ratio feature definitions and methods for forming the same. As gate height increases, 3D NAND gate stacks are subject to higher aspect ratio etching. Due to the current limitations of etching techniques, the vertical etch profile typically tapers as the depth into the gate stack increases. The inventors have devised a unique deposition scheme that compensates for etch performance degradation in deep trenches by a novel plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) film deposition method. The inventors have found that by grading various properties (e.g., refractive index, stress of the film, dopant concentration in the film) of the as-deposited films (e.g., silicon nitride) a more uniform etch profile can be achieved by compensating for variations in both dry and wet etch rates.

Plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition of films for improved vertical etch performance in 3D NAND memory devices

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to an improved method for forming a dielectric film stack used for inter-level dielectric (ILD) layers in a 3D NAND structure. In one embodiment, the method comprises providing a substrate having a gate stack deposited thereon, forming on exposed surfaces of the gate stack a first oxide layer using a first RF power and a first process gas comprising a TEOS gas and a first oxygen-containing gas, and forming over the first oxide layer a second oxide layer using a second RF power and a second process gas comprising a silane gas and a second oxygen-containing gas.

VNAND tensile thick TEOS oxide

A method for forming a high aspect ratio feature is disclosed. The method includes depositing one or more silicon oxide/silicon nitride containing stacks on a substrate by depositing a first film layer on the substrate from a first plasma and depositing a second film layer having a refractive index on the first film layer from a second plasma. A predetermined number of first film layers and second film layers are deposited on the substrate. The first film layer and the second film layer are either a silicon oxide layer or a silicon nitride layer and the first film layer is different from the second film layer. The method further includes depositing a third film layer from a third plasma and depositing a fourth film layer on the third film layer from a fourth plasma. The fourth film layer has a refractive index greater than the first refractive index.

Embodiments described herein provide a method for forming two titanium nitride materials by different PVD processes, such that a metallic titanium nitride layer is initially formed by a PVD process in a metallic mode and a titanium nitride retarding layer is formed over a portion of the metallic titanium nitride layer by a PVD process in a poison mode. Subsequently, a first aluminum layer, such as an aluminum seed layer, may be selectively deposited on exposed portions of the metallic titanium nitride layer by a CVD process. Thereafter, a second aluminum layer, such as an aluminum bulk layer, may be deposited on exposed portions of the first aluminum layer and the titanium nitride retarding layer during an aluminum PVD process.

Deposition processes for titanium nitride barrier and aluminum

Growing community of inventors

Ichon-shi, South Korea

Ryeun Kwan Kim