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:
Mar. 03, 2026
Filed:
Nov. 28, 2022
Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Chih-Hsun Hsu, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Shiyu Yue, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Jiang Lu, Milpitas, CA (US);
Rongjun Wang, Dublin, CA (US);
Xianmin Tang, San Jose, CA (US);
Zhenjiang Cui, San Jose, CA (US);
Chi Hong Ching, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Meng-Shan Wu, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Chun-Chieh Wang, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Wei Lei, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Yu Lei, Belmont, CA (US);
Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
A method and apparatus for a gap-fill in semiconductor devices are provided. The method includes forming a metal seed layer on an exposed surface of the substrate, wherein the substrate has features in the form of trenches or vias formed in a top surface of the substrate, the features having sidewalls and a bottom surface extending between the sidewalls. A gradient oxidation process is performed in a first process chamber to oxidize exposed portions of the metal seed layer to form a metal oxide, wherein the gradient oxidation process preferentially oxidizes a field region of the substrate over the bottom surface of the features. An etch back process is performed in the first process chamber removes or reduces the oxidized portion of the seed layer. A metal gap-fill process fills or partially fills the features with a gap fill material.