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:
Oct. 06, 1998
Filed:
Nov. 05, 1996
Meng Chu Tseng, Saratoga, CA (US);
Mei Chang, Saratoga, CA (US);
Ramanujapuram A Srinivas, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Klaus-Dieter Rinnen, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Moshe Eizenberg, Haifa, IL;
Susan Telford, Untergruttenbach, DE;
Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
A method of processing a substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer, in a vacuum processing chamber includes the steps of depositing a material on a surface of the substrate using a gas mixture, and purging the chamber of residual gases by flowing SiH.sub.4 into the chamber. Preferably, WSi.sub.x is deposited on a semiconductor wafer using a mixture comprising WF.sub.6, dichlorosilane and a noble gas, and the chamber is subsequently purged of residual WF.sub.6 and dichlorosilane by flowing SiH.sub.4 into the chamber. A further method of processing a substrate in a vacuum processing chamber includes the step of conditioning the chamber by flowing SiH.sub.4 into the chamber prior to depositing a material on the surface of the substrate. Semiconductor wafers processed according to the inventive method are characterized by more uniform sheet resistance values and reduced film stress. A vacuum processing apparatus is also provided for practicing methods of the invention and includes a chamber, means for depositing a material, such as WSi.sub.x, on a surface of a substrate disposed within the chamber, and means for purging the chamber with SiH.sub.4.