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:
Aug. 04, 2009
Filed:
May. 31, 2006
Craig R. Metzner, Fremont, CA (US);
Shreyas S. Kher, Campbell, CA (US);
Vidyut Gopal, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Shixue Han, Milpitas, CA (US);
Shankarram A. Athreya, San Jose, CA (US);
Craig R. Metzner, Fremont, CA (US);
Shreyas S. Kher, Campbell, CA (US);
Vidyut Gopal, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Shixue Han, Milpitas, CA (US);
Shankarram A. Athreya, San Jose, CA (US);
Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
Embodiments of the invention provide methods for forming hafnium materials, such as oxides and nitrides, by sequentially exposing a substrate to hafnium precursors and active oxygen or nitrogen species (e.g., ozone, oxygen radicals, or nitrogen radicals). The deposited hafnium materials have significantly improved uniformity when deposited by these atomic layer deposition (ALD) processes. In one embodiment, an ALD chamber contains an expanding channel having a bottom surface that is sized and shaped to substantially cover a substrate positioned on a substrate pedestal. During an ALD process for forming hafnium materials, process gases form a vortex flow pattern while passing through the expanding channel and sweep across the substrate surface. The substrate is sequentially exposed to chemical precursors that are pulsed into the process chamber having the vortex flow.