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:
Jun. 07, 2022
Filed:
Feb. 27, 2020
Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Xi Cen, San Jose, CA (US);
Feiyue Ma, San Jose, CA (US);
Kai Wu, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Yu Lei, Belmont, CA (US);
Kazuya Daito, Milpitas, CA (US);
Yi Xu, San Jose, CA (US);
Vikash Banthia, Los Altos, CA (US);
Mei Chang, Saratoga, CA (US);
He Ren, San Jose, CA (US);
Raymond Hoiman Hung, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Yakuan Yao, Campbell, CA (US);
Avgerinos V. Gelatos, Scotts Valley, CA (US);
David T. Or, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Jing Zhou, San Jose, CA (US);
Guoqiang Jian, Foster City, CA (US);
Chi-Chou Lin, San Jose, CA (US);
Yiming Lai, San Jose, CA (US);
Jia Ye, San Jose, CA (US);
Jenn-Yue Wang, Fremont, CA (US);
APPLIED MATERIALS, INC., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
The present disclosure generally relates to methods for processing of substrates, and more particularly relates to methods for forming a metal gapfill. In one implementation, the method includes forming a metal gapfill in an opening using a multi-step process. The multi-step process includes forming a first portion of the metal gapfill, performing a sputter process to form one or more layers on one or more side walls, and growing a second portion of the metal gapfill to fill the opening with the metal gapfill. The metal gapfill formed by the multi-step process is seamless, and the one or more layers formed on the one or more side walls seal any gaps or defects between the metal gapfill and the side walls. As a result, fluids utilized in subsequent processes do not diffuse through the metal gapfill.