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:
Jul. 07, 2026
Filed:
Apr. 11, 2023
Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Tsung-Han Yang, San Jose, CA (US);
Xingyao Gao, Santa Jose, CA (US);
Shiyu Yue, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Chih-Hsun Hsu, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Shirish Pethe, Cupertino, CA (US);
Rongjun Wang, Dublin, CA (US);
Yi Xu, San Jose, CA (US);
Wei Lei, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Yu Lei, Belmont, CA (US);
Aixi Zhang, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Xianyuan Zhao, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Zhimin Qi, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Jiang Lu, Milpitas, CA (US);
Xianmin Tang, San Jose, CA (US);
Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
A method and apparatus for tungsten gap-fill in semiconductor devices are provided. The method includes performing a gradient oxidation process to oxidize exposed portions of a liner layer, wherein the gradient oxidation process preferentially oxidizes an overhang portion of the liner layer, which obstructs or blocks top openings of one or more features formed within a field region of a substrate. The method further includes performing an etchback process to remove or reduce the oxidized overhang portion of the liner layer, exposing the liner layer to a chemical vapor transport (CVT) process to remove metal oxide remaining from the gradient oxidation process and the etchback process, and performing a tungsten gap-fill process to fill or partially fill the one or more features.