The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 12, 2020
Filed:
Jun. 28, 2016
Lam Research Corporation, Fremont, CA (US);
Meliha Gozde Rainville, Beaverton, OR (US);
Nagraj Shankar, Tualatin, OR (US);
Daniel Damjanovic, Sherwood, OR (US);
Kapu Sirish Reddy, Portland, OR (US);
Lam Research Corporation, Fremont, CA (US);
Abstract
Thin AlN films are oxidatively treated in a plasma to form AlO and AlON films without causing damage to underlying layers of a partially fabricated semiconductor device (e.g., to underlying metal and/or dielectric layers). The resulting AlO and AlON films are characterized by improved leakage current compared to the AlN film and are suitable for use as etch stop layers. The oxidative treatment involves contacting the substrate having an exposed AlN layer with a plasma formed in a process gas comprising an oxygen-containing gas and a hydrogen-containing gas. In some implementations oxidative treatment is performed with a plasma formed in a process gas including COas an oxygen-containing gas, Has a hydrogen-containing gas, and further including a diluent gas. The use of a hydrogen-containing gas in the plasma eliminates the oxidative damage to the underlying layers.