Claims
- 1. An apparatus, comprising:
a first reaction chamber; a gas source coupled to the first reaction chamber to supply a gas to the first reaction chamber including constituents adapted to react with a substrate in a process step; an excitation energy source coupled to the first reaction chamber to generate a plasma including ions and radicals from the gas; and a second reaction chamber adapted to house a substrate at a site in the second reaction chamber wherein the first reaction chamber is coupled to the second reaction chamber by an inlet member and radicals of the plasma flow through the inlet member into the second reaction chamber, the inlet member including a passageway having a cross-sectional dimension selected such that during processing the pressure in the second reaction chamber is less than the pressure in the first reaction chamber.
- 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the second reaction chamber is a rapid thermal processing chamber.
- 3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the excitation energy source includes a microwave cavity and a microwave generator to provide a microwave field to the microwave cavity.
- 4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the inlet member passageway includes a main passageway and two passageways which diverge from the main passageway in a direction toward the substrate site in the second reaction chamber.
- 5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the passageway of the inlet member is coupled to an output end of the excitation energy source and a sleeve is located in the passageway, the sleeve being made of a material different from that of the inlet member.
- 6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the sleeve is made of silicon, silicon nitride, boron nitride, carbon nitride, or Al2O3.
- 7. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the cross-sectional dimension of the sleeve is such that during processing the pressure in the second reaction chamber is less than the pressure in the first reaction chamber.
- 8. The apparatus of claim 1 further including a rapid thermal processing chamber coupled to the second reaction chamber by a load lock.
- 9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the pressure in the second reaction chamber is between about 0.50 and 4.0 Torr and the pressure in the first reaction chamber is between about 1.00 and 8.0 Torr.
- 10. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the inlet member includes a main passageway and a face thereof including a plurality of openings.
- 11. An apparatus, comprising:
a first reaction chamber; a gas source coupled to the first reaction chamber to supply a gas to the first reaction chamber including constituents adapted to react with a substrate in a process step; an excitation energy source coupled to the first reaction chamber to generate a plasma including ions and radicals from the gas; and a second reaction chamber adapted to house a substrate at a site in the second reaction chamber wherein the first reaction chamber is coupled to the second reaction chamber by an inlet member configured to fit within a pre-existing opening in a wall of the second reaction chamber and radicals of the plasma flow through the inlet member into the second reaction chamber, the inlet member including a passageway having a cross-sectional dimension selected such that during processing the pressure in the second reaction chamber is less than the pressure in the first reaction chamber.
- 12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the second reaction chamber is a rapid thermal processing chamber.
- 13. The apparatus of claim 11 where an interior wall of the second reaction chamber is curved and a face of the inlet member is curved to substantially correspond to the curvature of the interior wall.
- 14. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein an orifice is provided at an outlet of the first reaction chamber and a cross-sectional dimension of the orifice is selected to provide a pressure in the first reaction chamber which is greater than a pressure in the second reaction chamber during processing.
- 15. The apparatus of claim 11 further including a rapid thermal processing chamber coupled to the second reaction chamber by the load lock.
- 16. An apparatus for nitridation, comprising:
a process chamber in which a substrate can be positioned during processing; a first inlet into the process chamber through which a first process gas can be introduced into the process chamber from a first process gas source; a reaction chamber; a second process gas source coupled to the reaction chamber to supply a second process gas thereto; an excitation energy source coupled to the reaction chamber to generate a discharge in the second process gas as it flows from the second process gas source through the reaction chamber; and an inlet member coupled between an outlet of the reaction chamber and a second inlet into the process chamber, the inlet member including a passageway having a cross-sectional dimension selected such that during processing the pressure in the process chamber is less than the pressure in the reaction chamber and the inlet member is configured to fit within a pre-existing opening in a wall of the process chamber.
- 17. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the first process gas is selected from the group, comprising:
oxygen, oxygen and hydrogen, nitrous oxide and hydrogen, and a mixture of oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen.
- 18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the second process gas is selected from the group, comprising: nitrogen, and a mixture of nitrogen and helium.
- 19. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the process chamber is a rapid thermal processing chamber.
- 20. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein the excitation energy source includes a microwave cavity and a microwave generator to provide a microwave field to the microwave cavity.
- 21. The apparatus of claim 16 further including a valve to selectively provide fluid communication between the first inlet and the first process gas source, and the second inlet and the second process gas source.
- 22. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the inlet member passageway includes a main passageway and two passageways which diverge from the main passageway in a direction toward an interior of the process chamber.
- 23. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the inlet member includes a main passageway and a face thereof including a plurality of openings.
- 24. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the inlet member passageway is coupled to an output end of the excitation energy source and a sleeve is located in the passageway, the sleeve being made of a material different from that of said inlet member.
- 25. The apparatus of claim 24 wherein the sleeve is made of silicon, silicon nitride, boron nitride, carbon nitride, or Al2O3.
- 26. The apparatus of claim 24 wherein the cross-sectional dimension of the sleeve is such that during processing the pressure in the process chamber is less than the pressure in the reaction chamber.
- 27. A method for remote plasma nitridation, comprising:
generating a plasma including ions and radicals in a reaction chamber; providing a substrate having an oxide thereon in a rapid thermal processing chamber remote from the reaction chamber; transferring radicals of the plasma from the reaction chamber into the rapid thermal processing chamber wherein the pressure within the reaction chamber is greater than the pressure in the rapid thermal processing chamber; reacting a portion of the oxide and a portion of the plasma in the rapid thermal processing chamber; and forming a nitrogen containing material in a portion of the oxide on the substrate.
- 28. The method of claim 27 wherein the pressure in the rapid thermal processing chamber is about 0.50 to 4.0 Torr and the pressure in the reaction chamber is about 1.0 to 8.0 Torr.
- 29. A method for remote plasma nitridation, comprising:
providing a substrate having an oxide layer on a surface thereof in a rapid thermal processing chamber; generating a plasma in a reaction chamber from a gas including a mixture of nitrogen and an inert gas, the plasma comprising ions and radicals; transferring the radicals of the plasma into the rapid thermal processing chamber; and reacting a portion of the oxide layer and a portion of the plasma to nitrates a portion of the oxide layer on the surface of the substrate.
- 30. The method of claim 29 wherein the inert gas is helium.
- 31. The method of claim 30 wherein the gas mixture comprises no more than about 95 percent helium.
- 32. The method of claim 30 wherein the gas mixture comprise about 20 to 80 percent helium.
- 33. The method of claim 30 wherein the gas mixture comprises about 20 percent helium.
- 34. A method for remote plasma nitridation, comprising:
generating a plasma including ions and radicals in a reaction chamber; providing a substrate having an oxide thereon in a rapid thermal processing chamber remote from the reaction chamber; transferring radicals of the plasma into the rapid thermal processing chamber; and reacting a portion of the oxide and a portion of the plasma in the rapid thermal processing temperature at a temperature of between about 800 and 1,100° C. for a period of time between about 60 and 300 seconds to form a nitrogen containing material in a portion of the oxide on the substrate.
- 35. The method of claim 34 where the reacting step takes place at a temperature of about 1,000° C. for about 240 seconds.
- 36. The method of claim 34 wherein the step of forming a nitrogen containing material includes forming one of a silicon nitride and a silicon oxynitride.
- 37. A method, comprising:
positioning a substrate in a rapid thermal processing chamber; introducing a first process gas into the processing chamber through a first gas inlet to deposit a film on the substrate during rapid thermal processing of the substrate; introducing a second process gas into a reaction chamber remote from the processing chamber to generate a plasma of the second process gas; and flowing the plasma of the second process gas from the reaction chamber into the processing chamber through a second gas inlet at a first pressure which is greater than a second pressure in the processing chamber to alter the dielectric properties of the film on the substrate.
- 38. The method of claim 37 wherein the second pressure is between about 0.50 and 4.0 Torr and the first pressure between is about 1.0 and 8.0 Torr.
Parent Case Info
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 09/298,064, filed Apr. 27, 1999 and entitled “Apparatus and Method for Exposing a Substrate to Plasma Radicals,” which is incorporated herein by reference.
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09298064 |
Apr 1999 |
US |
Child |
09439476 |
Nov 1999 |
US |