National Semiconductor Corporation

Thomas Francis

Sergei Drizlikh

Lee James Jacobson

Thanas Budri

Todd Patrick Thibeault

Scott David Ruby

David Tucker

Reshmi Mitra

Sergai Drizlikh

Stephen W Swan

Robert Tracy

A system and method for monitoring chloride content and concentration induced by a metal etch process is disclosed. A blank metal film is deposited on a semiconductor wafer. A metal etch process is then applied to partially etch the blank metal film on the wafer. The metal etch process exposes the metal film to chlorine. The wafer is then scanned using surface profiling total X-ray reflection fluorescence. A chlorine concentration map is generated that shows quantitative and spatial information about the chlorine on the wafer. Information from the chlorine concentration map is then used to select a value of chlorine concentration for a metal etch process that will not create metal chloride corrosion on a semiconductor wafer.

System and method for monitoring chloride content and concentration induced by a metal etch process

An electrical resistance is produced in a semiconductor device by first providing a semiconductor resistor structure that includes a semiconductor resistor having formed thereon a native oxide layer. A portion of the native oxide layer that overlies a corresponding top surface portion of the semiconductor resistor is removed, in order to expose the top surface portion of the semiconductor resistor. Metal is deposited on the exposed top surface portion of the semiconductor resistor. A chemical reaction is effectuated in order to reduce the likelihood of metal reacting with the underlying silicon on any portion of the semiconductor resistor other than the top surface portion thereof. The chemical reaction can be an oxidation reaction that produces on the semiconductor resistor structure an oxide layer other than the native oxide layer and substantially thicker than the native oxide layer.

Method of avoiding unwanted metal deposition on a semiconductor resistor structure

A system and method is disclosed for minimizing increases in via resistance by applying a nitrogen plasma after a titanium liner deposition. A via in a semiconductor device is formed by placing a metal layer on a substrate and placing a layer of anti-reflective coating (ARC) titanium nitride (TiN) over the metal layer. A layer of dielectric material is placed over the ARC TiN layer and a via passage is etched through the dielectric and partially through the ARC TiN layer. A titanium layer is then deposited and subjected to a nitrogen plasma process. The nitrogen plasma converts the titanium layer to a first layer of titanium nitride. The first layer of titanium nitride does not react with fluorine to form a high resistance compound. Therefore the electrical resistance of the first layer of titanium nitride does not significantly increase during subsequent thermal cycles.

Semiconductor device having a minimal via resistance created by applying a nitrogen plasma to a titanium via liner

A system and method is disclosed for providing contact etch selectivity for the etching of a plurality of contact etch holes through a dielectric layer of an integrated circuit. The method comprises the steps of obtaining a value of the reactive ion etch (RIE) lag for the dielectric layer, and selecting different values for the diameters of the contact etch holes based upon the desired depths of the contact etch holes and on the value of the RIE lag for the dielectric layer. The invention also comprises a contact diameter application processor that is capable of using RIE lag data to calculate contact diameters for contact etch holes for a mask design layout of an integrated circuit.

System and method for providing contact etch selectivity using RIE lag dependence on contact aspect ratio

In an inductor integration process, a high Q inductor is achieved by forming an AlCu inductor via prior to depositing the inductor dielectric.

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South Portland, ME, United States of America

Thomas Francis