Claims
- 1. A process for curing a dielectric material on a substrate comprising:
(a) applying to a surface of said substrate a dielectric material; and (b) exposing said dielectric material to electron beam radiation under conditions sufficient to cure the dielectric material into a film possessing desired characteristics.
- 2. The process of claim 2 wherein said dielectric material is comprised of silicates, phosphosilicates, siloxanes, phosphosiloxianes or mixtures thereof.
- 3. The process of claim 2 wherein said dielectric material is comprised of, before exposure to said electron beam radiation, a siloxane having, based upon the total weight of said siloxane, of from about 2% to about 90% of organic groups comprising alkyl groups having from about 1 to about 10 carbons, aromatic groups having from about 4 to about 10 carbons, aliphatic groups having from about 4 to about 10 carbons, or mixtures thereof.
- 4. The process of claim 2 wherein said dielectric material is comprised of, based upon the total weight of said dielectric material, from about 0% to about 10% phosphorus.
- 5. The process of claim 1 wherein said dielectric material is applied to said substrate via spin-coating.
- 6. The process of claim 1 wherein said film has a thickness of from about 500 Å to about 20000 Å.
- 7. The process of claim 1 wherein said dielectric material is cured at a temperature of from about 25° C. to about 400° C.
- 8. The process of claim 1 wherein said dielectric material is cured at a pressure of from about 10 mtorr to about 200 mtorr.
- 9. The process of claim 1 wherein said substrate is preheated with a temperature of from about 50° C. to about 250° C. before said dielectric material is exposed to electron beam radiation.
- 10. The process of claim 1 wherein said substrate is exposed to electron beam radiation in the presence of a gas selected from the group consisting of oxygen, argon, nitrogen, helium and mixtures thereof.
- 11. A film produced according to the process of claim 1.
- 12. A substrate coated with at least one layer of the film of claim 1.
- 13. A microelectronic device containing the substrate of claim 12.
- 14. A process for annealing a substrate coated with a chemical vapor deposit material comprising:
a) applying to the surface of the substrate the chemical vapor deposit material; and b) exposing the chemical vapor deposit material to electron beam radiation under conditions sufficient to anneal the chemical vapor deposit material into a film possessing desired characteristics.
- 15. The process of claim 14 wherein said chemical vapor deposit material is comprised of plasma-enhanced tetra-ethyl ortho silicate, silane based oxide, boron-phosphosilicate glass, phosphosilicate glass, nitride, anhydride film, oxynitride, borophospho glass from tetraethyl orthosilane, or mixtures thereof.
- 16. The process of claim 14 wherein said chemical vapor deposit material is a silane-based oxide.
- 17. The process of claim 14 wherein said chemical vapor deposit material is applied to said substrate in the presence of a gas comprising a mixture of tetra-ethyl ortho silicate and oxygen or oxygen, silane and optionally diborane, phosphine, and nitrous oxide.
- 18. The process of claim 14 wherein said chemical vapor deposit material is applied to said substrate via spin-coating.
- 19. The process of claim 14 wherein said film has a thickness of from about 500 Å to about 20000 Å.
- 20. The process of claim 14 wherein said chemical vapor deposit material is annealed at a temperature of from about 25° C. to about 400° C.
- 21. The process of claim 14 wherein said chemical vapor deposit material is annealed at a pressure of from about 10 mtorr to about 200 mtorr.
- 22. The process of claim 14 wherein said substrate is preheated to a temperature of from about 50° C. to about 250° C. before exposure to electron beam radiation.
- 23. The process of claim 14 wherein said substrate is exposed to electron beam radiation in the presence of a gas selected from the group consisting of oxygen, argon, nitrogen, helium and mixtures thereof.
- 24. A film produced according to the process of claim 14.
- 25. A substrate coated with at least one layer of the film of claim 24.
- 26. A microelectronic device containing the substrate of claim 24.
- 27. A process for growing ultra-thin film oxides or nitrides on a substrate comprising:
(a) exposing a surface of the substrate to electron beam radiation in the presence of a material in a gaseous state and under conditions sufficient to ionize the material and promote an oxidization or nitridation reaction on the surface of the substrate.
- 28. The process of claim 27 wherein said substrate is comprised of gallium arsenide or silicon.
- 29. The process of claim 28 wherein said substrate is comprised of crystalline silicon, polysilicon, amorphous silicon, epitaixal silicon, or silicon dioxide.
- 30. The process of claim 27 wherein said material is comprised of oxygen, ammonia, nitrogen, nitrous oxide, reaction products or mixtures thereof in the form of a gas, a sublimed solid or a vaporized liquid.
- 31. The process of claim 27 wherein said oxides or nitrides are grown on said substrate simultaneously while said substrate is exposed to electron beam radiation.
- 32. The process of claim 27 wherein said ultra-thin film oxides or nitrides have a thickness of from about 10 Å to about 1000 Å.
- 33. The process of claim 27 wherein said material is ionized at a temperature of from about 25° C. to about 400° C.
- 34. The process of claim 27 wherein said material is ionized at a pressure of from about 10 mtorr to about 200 mtorr.
- 35. The process of claim 27 wherein said substrate is preheated to a temperature of from about 50° C. to about 250° C. before exposure to electron beam radiation.
- 36. An ultra-thin film oxide or nitride produced according to the process of claim 27.
- 37. A substrate coated with at least one layer of the film of claim 36.
- 38. A microelectronic device containing the substrate of claim 37.
- 39. A process for reducing the dielectric constant in substrates coated with a dielectric material comprised of exposing said material to electron beam radiation under conditions sufficient to cure said material.
- 40. A process for reducing the dielectric constant in substrates coated with a chemical vapor deposit material comprised of exposing said material to electron beam radiation under conditions sufficient to cure said material.
- 41. A microelectronic device containing a substrate coated with a film which was exposed to electron beam radiation, wherein the dielectric constant of said electron-beam processed film is less than about 3.
- 42. The process of claim 1 wherein said dielectric material is exposed to electron beam radiation for about 2 minutes to about 45 minutes.
- 43. The process of claim 1 wherein said substrate is a silicon wafer.
- 44. The process of claim 14 wherein said substrate is a silicon wafer.
- 45. The process of claim 27 wherein said substrate is a silicon wafer.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application serial No. 60/000,239 filed on Jun. 15, 1995, which is incorporated herein by reference.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60000239 |
Jun 1995 |
US |
Divisions (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
08652893 |
May 1996 |
US |
Child |
10726154 |
Dec 2003 |
US |