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.

Date of Patent:
Apr. 13, 2021

Filed:

Apr. 09, 2018
Applicant:

International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);

Inventors:

Ekmini Anuja De Silva, Slingerlands, NY (US);

Yongan Xu, Niskayuna, NY (US);

Abraham Arceo de la Pena, Albany, NY (US);

Chih-Chao Yang, Glenmont, NY (US);

Attorneys:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H01L 21/00 (2006.01); C23C 14/34 (2006.01); H01L 21/285 (2006.01); C23C 14/54 (2006.01); C23C 14/35 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
C23C 14/345 (2013.01); C23C 14/351 (2013.01); C23C 14/54 (2013.01); H01L 21/2855 (2013.01);
Abstract

A method of forming a semiconductor structure includes, in a radio frequency (RF) deposition chamber, depositing a titanium film using physical vapor deposition and forming a graded hard mask film by reactive sputtering the titanium film with nitrogen in the RF deposition chamber. The graded hard mask film is a titanium nitride film with a graded vertical concentration of nitrogen. The method may further include, during deposition of the titanium film and during formation of the graded hard mask film, modulating one or more parameters of the RF deposition chamber, such as modulating an auto capacitance tuner (ACT) current, modulating the RF power, and modulating the pressure of the RF deposition chamber.


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