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. 16, 2026
Filed:
Mar. 31, 2021
Lam Research Corporation, Fremont, CA (US);
Dustin Zachary Austin, Tigard, OR (US);
Ian John Curtin, Portland, OR (US);
Joseph R. Abel, West Linn, OR (US);
Bart J. Van Schravendijk, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Seshasayee Varadarajan, Lake Oswego, OR (US);
Adrien Lavoie, Newberg, OR (US);
Jeremy David Fields, Portland, OR (US);
Pulkit Agarwal, Beaverton, OR (US);
Shiva Sharan Bhandari, Beaverton, OR (US);
Lam Research Corporation, Fremont, CA (US);
Abstract
Methods of filling a gap with a dielectric material including using an inhibitor plasma during deposition. The inhibitor plasma increases a nucleation barrier of the deposited film. When the inhibitor plasma interacts with material in the feature, the material at the bottom of the feature receives less plasma treatment than material located closer to a top portion of the feature or in field. Deposition at the top of the feature is then selectively inhibited and deposition in lower portions of the feature proceeds with less inhibition or without being inhibited. As a result, bottom-up fill is enhanced, which can create a sloped profile that mitigates the seam effect and prevents void formation. In some embodiments, an underlying material at the top of the feature is protected using an integrated liner. In some embodiments, a hydrogen chemistry is used during gap fill to reduce seam formation.