The present disclosure relates to the formation of semiconductor devices. More specifically, the disclosure relates to the formation of semiconductor devices using atomic layer deposition or chemical vapor deposition.
To achieve the foregoing and in accordance with the purpose of the present disclosure, an apparatus is provided comprising a process chamber, a precursor gas source, a reactant gas source, an inhibitor gas source, a passivation gas source, a gas inlet in fluid connection with the process chamber, a switching manifold, and a controller controllably connected to the switching manifold. The switching manifold in a first position provides a fluid connection between the inhibitor gas source and the gas inlet, wherein the switching manifold in a second position provides a fluid connection between the precursor gas source and the gas inlet, wherein the switching manifold in a third position provides a fluid connection between the reactant gas source and the gas inlet, wherein the switching manifold in a fourth position provides a fluid connection between the passivation gas source and the gas inlet; and wherein the switching manifold prevents the gas inlet from being in fluid connection with at least two of the precursor gas source, the reactant gas source, the passivation gas source, and the inhibitor gas source at the same time
In another manifestation, a method for filling features in a substrate is provided. An inhibitor layer selectively deposited at a selected depth of the features. An atomic layer deposition process or a chemical vapor deposition process deposits a deposition layer within the features, wherein the deposition layer is selectively inhibited on parts of the features where the inhibitor layer is deposited.
In another manifestation, an apparatus comprising a process chamber, a chemical vapor deposition gas source, an inhibitor gas source, a passivation gas source, a gas inlet in fluid connection with the process chamber, a switching manifold, and a controller controllably connected to the switching manifold is provided. The switching manifold in a first position provides a fluid connection between the inhibitor gas source and the gas inlet, wherein the switching manifold in a second position provides a fluid connection between the chemical vapor deposition gas source and the gas inlet, wherein the switching manifold in a third position provides a fluid connection between the passivation gas source and the gas inlet; and wherein the switching manifold prevents the gas inlet from being in fluid connection with at least two of the chemical vapor deposition gas source, the passivation gas source, and the inhibitor gas source at a same time.
These and other features of the present disclosure will be described in more detail below in the detailed description of the disclosure and in conjunction with the following figures.
The present disclosure is illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings and in which like reference numerals refer to similar elements and in which:
The present disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to a few preferred embodiments thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that the present disclosure may be practiced without some or all of these specific details. In other instances, well-known process steps and/or structures have not been described in detail in order to not unnecessarily obscure the present disclosure.
Information transferred via communications interface 214 may be in the form of signals such as electronic, electromagnetic, optical, or other signals capable of being received by communications interface 214, via a communication link that carries signals and may be implemented using wire or cable, fiber optics, a phone line, a cellular phone link, a radio frequency link, and/or other communication channels. With such a communications interface, it is contemplated that the one or more processors 202 might receive information from a network, or might output information to the network in the course of performing the above-described method steps. Furthermore, method embodiments may execute solely upon the processors or may execute over a network such as the Internet, in conjunction with remote processors that share a portion of the processing.
The term “non-transient computer readable medium” is used generally to refer to media such as main memory, secondary memory, removable storage, and storage devices, such as hard disks, flash memory, disk drive memory, CD-ROM, and other forms of persistent memory and shall not be construed to cover transitory subject matter, such as carrier waves or signals. Examples of computer code include machine code, such as produced by a compiler, and files containing higher-level code that are executed by a computer using an interpreter. Computer readable media may also be computer code transmitted by a computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave and representing a sequence of instructions that are executable by a processor.
In this embodiment, an inhibitor deposition process is provided (step 304).
After the inhibitor layer 420 has been deposited, an atomic layer deposition process is provided (step 308). In this example, the atomic layer deposition process (step 308) comprises a precursor deposition process (step 312), a first purge (step 314), a reactant application process (step 316), and a second purge (318). In this example, during the precursor deposition process (step 312) the switching manifold 120 is placed in the second position. In the second position of the switching manifold 120, the precursor gas source 124 is in fluid connection with the gas inlet 116. A precursor gas flows from the precursor gas source 124 through the gas inlet 116 into the process chamber 104. In the second position, the inhibitor gas source 132, the reactant gas source 128, and the purge gas source 136 are not in fluid connection with the gas inlet 116. In this example, the precursor gas is between 100 sccm to 1000 sccm of a silicon containing precursor, such as C6H19N3Si. In this example, the precursor gas is not formed into a plasma. Therefore, a second high-frequency power is provided at a frequency of 13.56 MHz and a power of less than 500 watts. In this example, this power is 0 watts, so that no high-frequency power is provided. In this example, a low bias or no bias is provided. As a result, a second low-frequency bias power is provided at a frequency of 400 kHz and a power of less than 500 watts. After between 0.05 to 10 seconds the application of the precursor is stopped. In this example, the flow of the precursor gas is stopped.
When the flow of the precursor gas is stopped, a first purge of the precursor gas is provided (step 314) by placing the switching manifold 120 in a position so that the purge gas source 136 is in fluid connection with the gas inlet 116. A purge gas flows from the purge gas source 136 through the gas inlet 116 into the process chamber 104. The inhibitor gas source 132, the reactant gas source 128, and the precursor gas source 124 are not in fluid connection with the gas inlet 116. In this example, the purge gas may be Ar.
After the precursor gas is purged by providing the first purge (step 314), the reactant application is provided (step 316). A reactant gas is flowed into the process chamber 104. In this example, the switching manifold 120 is placed in a third position. In the third position of the switching manifold 120, the reactant gas source 128 is in fluid connection with the gas inlet 116. A reactant gas flows from the reactant gas source 128 through the gas inlet 116 into the process chamber 104. In the third position, the precursor gas source 124, the inhibitor gas source 132, and the purge gas source 136 are not in fluid connection with the gas inlet 116. In this example, the reactant gas is an oxidizing gas of between 250 sccm to 20000 sccm of oxygen (O2). The reactant gas is formed into a plasma. In this example, a third high-frequency excitation power is provided at a frequency of 13.56 MHz and a power of between 125 to 6500 watts. A bias is provided (step 512). In this example, a third low-frequency bias power is provided at a frequency of 400 kHz and a power of between 25 to 5000 watts. After between 0.05 to 140 seconds the application of the reactant gas is stopped.
When the flow of the reactant gas is stopped, a second purge gas is provided (step 318) to purge the reactant gas. The second purge gas may be the same as the first purge gas or maybe a different purge gas. If the second purge gas is the same as the first purge gas, the second purge gas is provided by placing the switching manifold 120 in a position so that the purge gas source 136 is in fluid connection with the gas inlet 116. The second purge gas flows from the purge gas source 136 through the gas inlet 116 into the process chamber 104. The inhibitor gas source 132, the reactant gas source 128, and the precursor gas source 124 are not in fluid connection with the gas inlet 116. If the second purge gas is different than the first purge gas, the switching manifold is placed in a position so that another purge gas source is in fluid connection with the gas inlet 116.
The atomic layer deposition process (step 308) may be performed for one or more cycles. In this example, the atomic layer deposition process (step 308) is performed for 1 to 60 cycles.
In this example, the gap-fill is not complete, so the process is repeated (step 324). A passivation process (step 328) is provided to remove the remaining inhibitor layer 420. In this example, the switching manifold 120 is placed in a fourth position. In the fourth position of the switching manifold 120, the passivation gas source 138 is in fluid connection with the gas inlet 116. A passivation gas flows from the passivation gas source 138 through the gas inlet 116 into the process chamber 104. In the fourth position, the precursor gas source 124, the reactant gas source 128, the inhibitor gas source 132, and the purge gas source 136 are not in fluid connection with the gas inlet 116. In an embodiment, the passivation gas comprises oxygen. In other embodiments, the passivation gas may comprise one or more of O2, H2 or a noble gas, such as He or Ar. The passivation gas is formed into a plasma. In this example, a fourth high-frequency excitation power is provided at a frequency of 13.56 MHz and a power of between 250 to 6500 watts. A bias is provided. In this example, a fourth low-frequency bias power is provided at a frequency of 400 kHz and a power of between 0 to 5000 watts. The passivation process is then stopped. The passivation process selectively removes the remaining inhibitor deposition with respect to the atomic layer deposition 424.
A new inhibitor layer is deposited by providing another inhibitor deposition process (step 304). The inhibitor deposition process is repeated using a different HF RF power and LF RF power.
The ALD process (step 308) is repeated.
In some embodiments, the cycle of inhibitor deposition process (step 304) and atomic layer deposition process (step 308) and passivation process (step 328) are repeated between 1 and 2000 times.
The switching manifold 120 prevents any two of the inhibitor gas, precursor gas, purge gas, and reactant gas from flowing at the same time. Providing an inhibitor gas source 132 and a switching manifold 120 that provides inhibitor gas separately from the precursor gas and reactant gas, allows for an inhibitor deposition. In various embodiments, the inhibitor gas may be iodine, chlorine, nitrogen trifluoride (NF3), Sulfonyl halides, diols (i.e. ethanediol, ethylene glycol, propanediol, etc.), diamines (i.e. ethylenediamine, propylenediamine, etc.), acetylene or ethylene, carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), pyridine, piperidine, pyrrole, pyrimidine, imidazole, or benzene. In addition, the low-frequency RF and high-frequency RF configuration allow for tuning of the location of the inhibitor deposition, so that the inhibitor deposition is deposited in regions of the features where deposition is desired to be inhibited. The switching manifold 120 prevents the gas inlet 116 from being in fluid connection with at least two of the precursor gas source 136, the reactant gas source 128, the passivation gas source 138, the purge gas source 136, and the inhibitor gas source 132 at the same time. In this embodiment, when the switching manifold 120 is placed in a fifth position, the fifth position provides a fluid connection between the purge gas source 136 and the gas inlet 116 and prevents the gas inlet 116 from being in fluid connection with the precursor gas source 124, the reactant gas source 238, the passivation gas source 248, and the inhibitor gas source 132.
It has been found that by grounding the showerhead 112 and providing HF RF power and LF RF power to the substrate support 108, control of the location of the inhibitor deposition is improved. Without being bound by theory, it is believed that an increased bias on the substrate support causes deeper deposition of the inhibitor layer 420. In these embodiments low frequency is in the range of 100 kHz and 1 MHz. High frequency is in the range of 10 MHz and 100 MHz. Therefore, a selective bias may be used to control the selective deposition of the depth of the inhibitor layer 420.
Providing an inhibitor layer 420 that may be used for a plurality of atomic layer deposition cycles and using a passivation process to remove remaining inhibitor layer 420, before providing a new inhibitor layer 428, provides an improved tuning process. Therefore, providing a passivation gas separately from providing a precursor gas, providing a purge gas, providing a reactant gas and providing an inhibitor gas provides an improved ALD process.
In the above embodiment, a dielectric material, such as silicon oxide, is deposited in the gap-fill process. In other embodiments, other materials such as metal oxides are deposited in the gap-fill process.
In an embodiment, an acceleration controlled enhancement (ACE) may be provided to enable accelerated deposition on different regions of the features than where the inhibitor deposition is provided. The acceleration deposition would accelerate deposition at the regions where the acceleration deposition is deposited.
If the features are not completely filled, the process may be repeated (step 724). In this embodiment, a passivation step (step 728) is used to remove the remaining inhibitor layer. Another inhibitor deposition is provided (step 704) to deposit another inhibitor layer. Another CVD process is provided (step 708) to continue filling the features, where the CVD process selectively deposits lower on the regions with the inhibitor layer.
The switching manifold 620 in a first position provides a fluid connection between the inhibitor gas source 632 and the gas inlet 616, wherein the switching manifold 620 in a second position provides a fluid connection between the chemical vapor deposition gas source 624 and the gas inlet 616, wherein the switching manifold in a third position provides a fluid connection between the passivation gas source 638 and the gas inlet 616; and wherein the switching manifold 620 prevents the gas inlet 616 from being in fluid connection with at least two of the chemical vapor deposition gas source 624, the passivation gas source 638, and the inhibitor gas source 632 at the same time.
In this embodiment, the controller 656 comprises at least one processor and computer readable media. The computer readable media comprises computer code for providing a plurality of cycles, wherein each cycle comprises providing an inhibitor deposition, comprising placing the switching manifold 620 in the first position, and providing a chemical vapor deposition comprising placing the switching manifold 620 in the second position, and computer code for providing a passivation comprising placing the switching manifold 620 in a third position. In this embodiment, the controller 656 is controllably connected to the high-frequency RF source 644 and the low-frequency RF source 652. The computer readable media further comprises: computer code for providing a first high frequency excitation power and a first low frequency bias power when the switching manifold 620 is placed in the first position, computer code for providing a second high frequency excitation power and a second low frequency bias power when the switching manifold 620 is placed in the second position, and computer code for providing a third high frequency excitation power and a third low frequency bias power when the switching manifold 620 is placed in the third position. In this embodiment, the computer readable media further comprises computer code for providing a first high-frequency excitation power when the switching manifold 620 is placed in the first position, wherein the first high-frequency excitation power is greater than 250 watts.
While this disclosure has been described in terms of several preferred embodiments, there are alterations, modifications, permutations, and various substitute equivalents, which fall within the scope of this disclosure. It should also be noted that there are many alternative ways of implementing the methods and apparatuses of the present disclosure. It is therefore intended that the following appended claims be interpreted as including all such alterations, modifications, permutations, and various substitute equivalents as fall within the true spirit and scope of the present disclosure.
This application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Application No. 62/773,377, filed Nov. 30, 2018, which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/US2019/062607 | 11/21/2019 | WO | 00 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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62773377 | Nov 2018 | US |