Applied Materials, Inc.

Sameer Desai

Hichem M'Saad

Pravin K Narwankar

Farhad K Moghadam

Turgut Sahin

Laxman Murugesh

Manoj Vellaikal

Walter Zygmunt

Dana Tribula

A method of formation of a damascene FSG film with good adhesion to silicon nitride in an HDP-CVD system. Silane (SiH ), silicon tetrafluoride (SiF ), oxygen (O ) and argon (Ar) are used as the reactant gases. SiH , SiF , and O react to form the FSG. Ar is introduced to promote gas dissociation. All four gases are used for depositing most of the FSG film. SiH is not used during deposition of the interfacial part of the FSG film. The interfacial part of the FSG film refers either to the topmost portion, if silicon nitride is to be deposited on top of the FSG or the bottom portion if the FSG is to be deposited on top of silicon nitride. Using SiH with the SiF tends to mitigate the destructive effects of SiF throughout most of the deposition. By removing the SiH from the deposition of the interfacial part of the FSG film less hydrogen is incorporated into the film in the interfacial region and adhesion to overlying or underlying silicon nitride is improved.

Apparatus for improving barrier layer adhesion to HDP-FSG thin films

A method and apparatus for modifying the profile of narrow, high-aspect-ratio gaps on a semiconductor substrate are used to fill the gaps in a void-free manner. Differential heating characteristics of a substrate in a high-density plasma chemical vapor deposition (HDP-CVD) system helps to prevent the gaps from being pinched off before they are filled. The power distribution between coils forming the plasma varies the angular dependence of the sputter etch component of the plasma, and thus may be used to modify the gap profile, independently or in conjunction with differential heating. A heat source may be applied to the backside of a substrate during the concurrent deposition/etch process to further enhance the profile modification characteristics of differential heating.

Method and apparatus for modifying the profile of narrow, high-aspect-ratio gaps through wafer heating

Method for improving barrier layer adhesion to HDP-FSG thin films

Method and apparatus for modifying the profile of narrow, high-aspect-ratio gaps using differential plasma power

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San Francisco, CA, United States of America

Sameer Desai