Applied Materials, Inc.

Ulrich Kroemer

Lee Luo

Ming Li

Shulin Wang

Aihua Chen

In one embodiment, a method for forming a tungsten barrier material on a substrate is provided which includes depositing a tungsten layer on a substrate during a vapor deposition process and exposing the substrate sequentially to a tungsten precursor and a nitrogen precursor to form a tungsten nitride layer on the tungsten layer. Some examples provide that the tungsten layer may be deposited by sequentially exposing the substrate to the tungsten precursor and a reducing gas (e.g., diborane or silane) during an atomic layer deposition process. The tungsten layer may have a thickness of about 50 &#x212b; or less and tungsten nitride layer may have an electrical resistivity of about 380 &#x3bc;&#x3a9;-cm or less. Other examples provide that a tungsten bulk layer may be deposited on the tungsten nitride layer by a chemical vapor deposition process.

Tungsten nitride atomic layer deposition processes

A method for depositing a tungsten nitride layer is provided. The method includes a cyclical process of alternately adsorbing a tungsten-containing compound and a nitrogen-containing compound on a substrate. The barrier layer has a reduced resistivity, lower concentration of fluorine, and can be deposited at any desired thickness, such as less than 100 angstroms, to minimize the amount of barrier layer material.

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Jena, Germany

Ulrich Kroemer