Claims
- 1. A method of forming a doped or undoped silicon-containing film upon a substrate having trenches therein, comprising:
pre-treating the substrate by chemical exposure in the absence of a silicon-containing source to improve uniformity within the trenches of a surface concentration of sites that are receptive to gas phase silicon-containing intermediates; forming a layer of silicon-containing material upon the substrate by exposure of the substrate to a chemical vapor deposition gas source combination comprising an oxygen-containing source and a silicon-containing source; and repeating the pre-treating step and the forming step to form a uniform film within the trenches.
- 2. The method of claim 1 further comprising determining a minimum width of the trenches, wherein each layer of silicon-containing material is formed with a thickness less than half the minimum width.
- 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the silicon-containing source in the layer forming step comprises one of silane, TEOS, OMCTS, TMCTS, HMDSO, TMDSO, or any combination thereof.
- 4. The method of claim 1 wherein the oxygen-containing source in the layer forming step comprises ozone.
- 5. The method of claim 1 wherein:
the chemical exposure in the pre-treating step is to an oxygen-containing source; the silicon-containing source in the layer forming step comprises one of silane, TEOS, OMCTS, TMCTS, HMDSO, TMDSO, or any combination thereof; the oxygen-containing source in the layer forming step comprises ozone; and the oxygen-containing source in the pre-treating step is identical to the oxygen-containing source in the layer forming step.
- 6. The method of claim 1 wherein at least some of the trenches have a depth:width aspect ratio of about 2.0 or greater with a minimum width gap of about 140 nm or less.
- 7. The method of claim 1 wherein the layer of silicon-containing material formed in the forming step comprises undoped silicon dioxide having a thickness on the order of about 200 Å or less.
- 8. The method of claim 1 wherein:
the forming step comprises exposing the substrate in a first chamber; and the pre-treating step comprises exposing the substrate in a second chamber different than the first chamber.
- 9. The method of claim 1 wherein:
the forming step comprises exposing the substrate to a first injector within a chamber; and the pre-treating step comprises exposing the substrate to a second injector within the chamber, different than the first injector.
- 10. The method of claim 1 wherein:
the forming step comprises exposing the substrate to a flow of the chemical vapor deposition gas source combination for a first predetermined period of time from an injector within a chamber; and the pre-treating step comprises exposing the substrate to a flow of the chemical for a second predetermined period of time from the injector.
- 11. The method of claim 1 wherein:
the forming step comprises exposing the substrate to a rapid pulse of the chemical vapor deposition gas source combination from an injector within a chamber; and the pre-treating step comprises exposing the substrate to a rapid pulse of the chemical from the injector.
- 12. The method of claim 1 wherein the pre-treating step comprises exposing the substrate to a chemical specifically suited to the exposed substrate material to enhance uniform surface concentration within the trenches of sites that are receptive to gas phase silicon-containing intermediates.
- 13. The method of claim 12 wherein the chemical is one of ozone, oxygen, hydrogen, N2O, H2O, NF3, isopropyl alcohol, methyl alcohol, or a combination thereof.
- 14. A method of forming a doped or undoped silicon dioxide film upon a substrate, comprising:
successively depositing upon the substrate thin layers of doped or undoped silicon dioxide with chemical vapor deposition using an oxygen-containing source and a silicon-containing source to obtain a film of a desired thickness; and between each of the successive thin layer depositions, exposing the substrate to the oxygen-containing source in the absence of the silicon-containing source.
- 15. The method of claim 14 further comprising:
exposing the substrate to the oxygen-containing source in the absence of the silicon-containing source prior to the successively depositing step.
- 16. The method of claim 14 further comprising:
between each of the successive thin layer deposition, exposing the substrate to a thermal treatment.
- 17. A method of forming a doped or undoped silicon dioxide film upon a substrate, comprising:
forming a first layer of doped or undoped silicon dioxide with chemical vapor deposition; oxidizing the first layer; and forming a second layer of doped or undoped silicon dioxide contiguous with the first layer with chemical vapor deposition.
- 18. The method of claim 17 further comprising:
oxidizing the second layer; and forming a third layer of silicon dioxide contiguous with the second layer with chemical vapor deposition.
- 19. The method of claim 17 wherein the substrate comprises a plurality of structures defining a plurality of trenches, further comprising:
determining a minimum width of the trenches; wherein the first layer of silicon dioxide is formed with a thickness less than half the minimum width; and wherein the second layer of silicon dioxide is formed with a thickness less than half the minimum width.
- 20. The method of claim 19 wherein:
the minimum width is less than about 140 nm; the thickness of the first layer is less than about 200 Å; and the thickness of the second layer is less than about 200 Å.
- 21. The method of claim 17 wherein the silicon dioxide of the first and second layers is undoped.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/382,780, filed May 21, 2002, which hereby is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference thereto.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60382780 |
May 2002 |
US |