Applied Materials, Inc.

Other

Ted Tie Guo

Roderick Craig Mosely

Liang-Yuh Chen

Fusen E Chen

Wei Ti Lee

Mehul B Naik

Hong Zhang

Alan A Ritchie

Sang-Ho Yu

Rong Tao

Israel Beinglass

Liang Light Chen

Hong Sheng Yang

Barney M Cohen

Amrita Verma

Steve H Chiao

Suchitra Subrahmanyan

Mohd Fadzli Anwar Hassan

Roderick Craig Mosley

Tza-Jing Gung

Adolph Miller Allen

Wei Shi

Gongda Yao

Nitin Khurana

Ryeun Kwan Kim

Ki Hwan Yoon

Jing-Pei Chou

Liang-Yu Chen

Yen-Chih Wang

Hyung Chul Park

Jian-Xin Lei

A system of gas lines for a processing chamber and a method of forming a gas line system for a processing chamber are provided. The system of gas lines includes electropolished multi-way valves that connect electropolished linear gas lines. By using multi-way valves rather than tee-fittings and electropolishing the linear gas lines, the nucleation of contaminating particles in the system of gas lines may be reduced.

Gas line weldment design and process for CVD aluminum

A sputtering target for a sputtering chamber comprises a backing plate with a sputtering plate mounted thereon. In one version, the backing plate comprises a circular plate having a front surface comprising an annular groove. The sputtering plate comprises a disk comprising a sputtering surface and a backside surface having a circular ridge that is shaped and sized to fit into the annular groove of the backing plate.

Sputtering target having increased life and sputtering uniformity

Embodiments herein provide methods for forming an aluminum contact on a cobalt silicide junction. In one embodiment, a method for forming materials on a substrate is provided which includes forming a cobalt silicide layer on a silicon-containing surface of the substrate during a silicidation process, forming a fluorinated sublimation film on the cobalt silicide layer during a plasma process, heating the substrate to a sublimation temperature to remove the fluorinated sublimation film, depositing a titanium-containing nucleation layer over the cobalt silicide layer, and depositing an aluminum-containing material over the titanium-containing nucleation layer. In one example, the method further provides forming the cobalt silicide layer by depositing a cobalt-containing layer on the silicon-containing surface, heating the substrate during a rapid thermal annealing (RTA) process, etching away any remaining portions of the cobalt-containing layer from the substrate, and subsequently heating the substrate during another RTA process.

Aluminum contact integration on cobalt silicide junction

Blocker plates for chemical vapor deposition chambers and methods of treating blocker plates are provided. The blocker plates define a plurality of holes therethrough and have an upper surface and a lower surface that are at least about 99.5% pure, which minimizes the nucleation of contaminating particles on the blocker plates. A physically vapor deposited coating, such as an aluminum physically vapor deposited coating, may be formed on the upper and lower surfaces of the blocker plates. Chemical vapor deposition chambers including blocker plates having a physically vapor deposited coating thereon are also provided.

Unique passivation technique for a CVD blocker plate to prevent particle formation

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

An aluminum sputtering process including RF biasing the wafer and a two-step aluminum fill process and apparatus used therefor to fill aluminum into a narrow via hole by sputtering under two distinctly different conditions, preferably in two different plasma sputter reactors. The first step includes sputtering a high fraction of ionized aluminum atoms onto a relatively cold wafer, e.g., held at less than 150&#xb0; C., and relatively highly biased to attract aluminum atoms into the narrow holes and etch overhangs. The second step includes more neutral sputtering onto a relatively warm wafer, e.g. held at greater than 250&#xb0; C., and substantially unbiased to provide a more isotropic and uniform aluminum flux. The magnetron scanned about the back of the aluminum target may be relatively small and unbalanced in the first step and relatively large and balanced in the second.

Aluminum sputtering while biasing wafer

A multi-track magnetron having a convolute shape and asymmetric about the target center about which it rotates. A plasma track is formed as a closed loop between opposed inner and outer magnetic poles, preferably as two or three radially arranged and spirally shaped counter-propagating tracks with respect to the target center and preferably passing over the rotation axis. The pole shape may be optimized to produce a cumulative track length distribution conforming to the function L=ar. After several iterations of computerized optimization, the pole shape may be tested for sputtering uniformity with different distributions of magnets in the fabricated pole pieces. If the uniformity remains unsatisfactory, the design iteration is repeated with a different n value, different number of tracks, or different pole widths. The optimization reduces azimuthal sidewall asymmetry and improves radial deposition uniformity.

Multi-track magnetron exhibiting more uniform deposition and reduced rotational asymmetry

The present invention generally provides a metallization process for forming a highly integrated interconnect. More particularly, the present invention provides a dual damascene interconnect module that incorporates selective chemical vapor deposition aluminum (CVD Al) via fill with a metal wire, preferably copper, formed within a barrier layer. The invention provides the advantages of having copper wires with lower resistivity (greater conductivity) and greater electromigration resistance than aluminum, a barrier layer between the copper wire and the surrounding dielectric material, void-free, sub-half micron selective CVD Al via plugs, and a reduced number of process steps to achieve such integration.

Fully planarized dual damascene metallization using copper line interconnect and selective CVD aluminum plug

The present invention relates generally to an improved process for providing uniform step coverage on a substrate and planarization of metal layers to form continuous, void-free contacts or vias in sub-half micron applications. In one aspect of the invention, a refractory layer is deposited onto a substrate having high aspect ratio contacts or vias formed thereon. A CVD metal layer is then deposited onto the refractory layer at low temperatures to provide a conformal wetting layer for a PVD metal. Next, a PVD metal is deposited onto the previously formed CVD metal layer at a temperature below that of the melting point temperature of the metal. The resulting CVD/PVD metal layer is substantially void-free. The metallization process is preferably carried out in an integrated processing system that includes both a PVD and CVD processing chamber so that once the substrate is introduced into a vacuum environment, the metallization of the vias and contacts occurs without the formation of an oxide layer over the CVD Al layer.

Low temperature integrated metallization process and apparatus

The present invention relates to a method for depositing metal layers on substrates with improved surface morphology. According to one aspect of the invention, a metal is deposited by chemical vapor deposition on a substrate having an aperture formed therein. A metal is then deposited on the substrate by physical vapor deposition performed with a low substrate temperature. The substrate is then heated. The substrate may then receive a metal deposited by physical vapor deposition performed at a high temperature and an additional heating step. The aperture of the resulting substrate is filled with metal and is substantially void-free and has a smooth surface morphology.

CVD-PVD deposition process

A refractory metal layer is deposited onto a substrate having high aspect ratio contracts or vias formed thereon. Next, a plasma-enhanced CVD refractory metal nitride layer is deposited on the refractory metal layer. Then, a metal layer is deposited over the metal nitride layer. The resulting metal layer is substantially void free and has reduced resistivity, and has greater effective line width. Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition of the metal nitride layer comprises forming a plasma of a metal-containing compound, a nitrogen-containing gas, and a hydrogen-gas to deposit a metal nitride layer on a substrate. The metal nitride layer is preferably treated with nitrogen plasma to densify the metal nitride film. The process is preferably carried out in an integrated processing system that generally includes various chambers so that once the substrate is introduced into a vacuum environment, the metallization of the vias and contacts occurs without exposure to possible contaminants.

Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition of a metal nitride layer

The present invention provides a method for filling an aperture on a substrate by depositing a metal film on the substrate of insufficient thickness to fill the sub half-micron aperture and then annealing the substrate in a low pressure chamber at a temperature below a melting point of the deposited metal film. The present invention further provides forming a planarized film over the void-free aperture by physical vapor depositing a metal film over the annealed film.

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Palo Alto, CA, United States of America

Ted Tie Guo