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:
Nov. 02, 2004
Filed:
Nov. 20, 2002
William C. Koutny, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Helen L. Chung, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Silicon Magnetic Systems, San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
A method is provided which includes creating a plasma from a gas mixture including diatomic nitrogen gas and a gas comprising silicon. In addition, the method includes exposing a microelectronic topography to the plasma to form a silicon nitride layer thereon. In some cases, the method may include forming the silicon nitride layer at a temperature less than approximately 300° C. Furthermore, the method may include subsequently processing the microelectronic topography at a temperature greater than or equal to approximately 250° C. such that a stress change of less than approximately 1.0×10 dynes/cm occurs within the silicon nitride layer. In addition, a microelectronic topography is provided which has a silicon nitride layer with a concentration of diatomic hydrogen that is at least one order of magnitude lower than a concentration of diatomic hydrogen within a silicon nitride layer formed from a plasma generated from ammonia.