Novellus Systems Incorporated

Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Corporation

US Government As Represented by the Secretary of the Army

Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties, Inc.

Genus, Inc.

Aixtron Se

Aixtron, Inc.

Quester Technology, Inc.

Canon U.s.a., Inc.

Eugenus, Inc.

Sasangan Ramanathan

Seshu B Desu

Thomas E Seidel

Gi Youl Kim

Sridhar Karthik Kailasam

Louise C Sengupta

Patrick A Van Cleemput

Pooran Chandra Joshi

Sanjay Gopinath

Ronald Allan Powell

Jeremie James Dalton

Sang-Hyeob Lee

Somnath Sengupta

Brian Lu

Francisco J Juarez

Giovanni Antonio Foggiato

Patrick Christopher Joyce

Ana Rangelova Londergan

Michelle T Schulberg

Ana R Londergan

Steven Stowell

Xinye Liu

Hugo Silva

Ken Doering

Ashraf R Khan

Anuranjan Srivastava

Jereld Winkler

Woong Park

Young Jin Jang

Carlos Tres Suchicital

Greg Siu

Edward Lee

Ana Londergan

There is disclosed a method for forming a TiSiN thin film on a substrate according to ALD including a first process of preheating a substrate while supplying Ar or Ncontaining inert gas to a chamber, after disposing a substrate in a chamber; a second process of forming a TiN film on the substrate by repeating at least one time a process of purging over-supplied Ti containing gas after supplying Ti containing gas and inert gas after that and a process of purging residual product after supplying N containing gas and inert gas after that; a third process of forming a SiN film by repeating at least one time a process of purging over-supplied Si containing gas after supplying Si containing gas on the TiN film and supplying inert gas after that and a process of purging residual product after supplying N containing gas and supplying inert gas after that; and a fourth process of forming a TiSiN film having a desired thickness by repeating the second and third processes at least one time, a partial pressure range of the gas used in forming the TiSiN thin film is Ti containing gas: 9&#xd7;10Torr or less, Si containing gas: 1&#xd7;10&#x2dc;3&#xd7;10Torr and N containing gas: 7&#xd7;10&#x2dc;6&#xd7;10Torr, and a pressure range of the gas is 500 mTorr&#x2dc;5 Torr and the Si content of the formed TiSiN thin film is 20 atom % or less.

Method for forming TiSiN thin film layer by using atomic layer deposition

A process in which a wafer is exposed to a first chemically reactive precursor dose insufficient to result in a maximum saturated ALD deposition rate on the wafer, and then to a second chemically reactive precursor dose, the precursors being distributed in a manner so as to provide substantially uniform film deposition. The second chemically reactive precursor dose may likewise be insufficient to result in a maximum saturated ALD deposition rate on the wafer or, alternatively, sufficient to result in a starved saturating deposition on the wafer. The process may or may not include purges between the precursor exposures, or between one set of exposures and not another.

Transient enhanced atomic layer deposition

The present invention pertains to apparatus and methods for introduction of solid precursors and reactants into a supercritical fluid reactor. Solids are dissolved in supercritical fluid solvents in generator apparatus separate from the supercritical fluid reactor. Such apparatus preferably generate saturated solutions of solid precursors via recirculation of supercritical fluids through a vessel containing the solid precursors. Supercritical solutions of the solids are introduced into the reactor, which itself is charged with a supercritical fluid. Supercritical conditions are maintained during the delivery of the dissolved precursor to the reactor. Recirculation of supercritical precursor solutions through the reactor may or may not be implemented in methods of the invention. Methods of the invention are particularly well suited for integrated circuit fabrication, where films are deposited on wafers under supercritical conditions.

Method and apparatus for introduction of solid precursors and reactants into a supercritical fluid reactor

Electronic components such as semiconductor wafer VLSI and ULSI integrated circuit devices are provided having a robust barrier layer in the device interconnects. The robust barrier layer provides excellent step coverage, low resistance and enhanced adhesion to CVD copper and the interconnect has a double structure of a layer of a barrier material and a metal layer thereon. The metal layer is preferably tungsten and is formed by replacing silicon or other such atoms on the surface of the barrier layer with tungsten metal. A layer of silicon can be formed on the barrier layer, silicon atoms can be formed on the surface by reacting the barrier layer with a silicon containing reactant or a silicon containing barrier layer can be used.

Method for the formation of diffusion barrier

A method to deposit a passivating layer of a first material on an interior reactor surface of a cold or warm wall reactor, in which the first material is non-reactive with one or more precursor used to form a second materials. Subsequently when a film layer is deposited on a substrate by subjecting the substrate to the one or more precursors, in which at least one precursor has a low vapor pressure, uniformity and repeatability is improved by the passivation layer.

Passivation method for improved uniformity and repeatability for atomic layer deposition and chemical vapor deposition

The present invention pertains to methods for forming metal-derived layers on substrates. Preferred methods apply to integrated circuit fabrication. In particular, selective methods may be used to form diffusion barriers on partially fabricated integrated circuits. In one preferred method, a wafer is heated and exposed to a metal vapor. Under specific conditions, the metal vapor reacts with dielectric surfaces to form a diffusion barrier, but does not react with metal surfaces. Thus, methods of the invention form diffusion barriers that selectively protect dielectric surfaces but leave metal surfaces free of diffusion barrier.

Forming metal-derived layers by simultaneous deposition and evaporation of metal

Thin films of ferroelectric composite material comprising barium strontium titanate (BSTO) combined with magnesium oxide additive are produced by metalorganic decomposition. The barium strontium titanate magnesium oxide ferroelectric composite comprises Ba.sub.1-x Sr.sub.x TiO.sub.3 /MgO, wherein x is greater than 0.0 but less than or equal to 0.75 and preferably is 0.4, and wherein the weight ratio of BSTO to magnesium oxide may range from 99 to 40 weight percent BSTO to 1 to 60 weight percent magnesium oxide. These films have desirable electronic properties and may have application to both active microwave and dynamic random access memory devices, including low dielectric constant, low loss factor, high tunability, and high resistivity. The films produced are uniformly thick and impurity free, with thicknesses of only 0.4 microns.

Ferroelectric thin film composites made by metalorganic decomposition

Deposition rates of undoped silicate glass dielectric layers on thermal oxide are increased by pre-treating the thermal oxide layer with electromagnetic radiation in the ultraviolet (UV) and/or vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) wavelengths. The surface smoothness of the resulting films are also increased by pre-treating films with UV and/or VUV radiation. Furthermore, the gap filling abilities of the undoped silicate glass films are increased by pre-treating the thermal oxide with UV and/or VUV radiation. New equipment and methods are presented for exposing semiconductor devices to UV and/or VUV radiation, and for enhancing the deposition rates and film quality for semiconductor manufacture. Semiconductor devices incorporating the new methods are also described.

Surface modification of semiconductors using electromagnetic radiation

A device and method for flash evaporating a reagent includes an evaporation chamber that houses a dome on which evaporation occurs. The dome is solid and of high thermal conductivity and mass, and may be heated to a temperature sufficient to vaporize a specific reagent. The reagent is supplied from an external source to the dome through a nozzle, and may be supplied as a continuous stream, as a shower, and as discrete drops. A carrier gas may be introduced into the evaporation chamber and create a vortex flow therewithin. After evaporation, the gas vapor may be removed from the evaporation chamber through a regulating valve to a reaction chamber. Another embodiment of the invention includes a plurality of evaporating domes that separately receive reagent, and may receive reagents of differing composition.

Flash evaporator

Growing community of inventors

San Ramon, CA, United States of America

Sasangan Ramanathan