METHOD TO IMPROVE THE STEP COVERAGE AND PATTERN LOADING FOR DIELECTRIC FILMS

Abstract

A method of forming a layer on a substrate in a chamber, wherein the substrate has at least one formed feature across its surface, is provided. The method includes exposing the substrate to a silicon-containing precursor in the presence of a plasma to deposit a layer, treating the deposited layer with a plasma, and repeating the exposing and treating until a desired thickness of the layer is obtained. The plasma may be generated from an oxygen-containing gas.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

So that the manner in which the above recited features of the present invention can be understood in detail, a more particular description of the invention, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to embodiments, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of this invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of an embodiment of a deposition process.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing the thickness of a layer during a deposition process performed according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing the thickness of a layer deposited on a substrate according to an embodiment of the invention relative to the amount of time the substrate is exposed to a precursor.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the deposition of a layer on a substrate according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of an additional embodiment of a deposition process.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of an additional embodiment of a deposition process.

Claims

1. A method of forming a layer on a patterned substrate in a chamber, comprising: exposing the patterned substrate to a silicon-containing precursor in the presence of a plasma to deposit a layer on the patterned substrate;treating the layer after it is deposited with a plasma from an oxygen-containing gas; andrepeating the exposing and treating until a desired thickness of the layer is obtained.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the layer is a silicon oxide layer or a carbon-doped silicon oxide layer.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the silicon-containing precursor comprises one or more alkyl groups bonded to silicon.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the oxygen-containing gas comprises oxygen gas, nitrous oxide, or a combination thereof.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the silicon-containing precursor comprises OMCTS and the oxygen-containing gas comprises oxygen gas.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the treating the layer with a plasma from an oxygen-containing gas comprises removing methyl groups from the deposited layer.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the treating the layer with a plasma from an oxygen-containing gas further comprises adding hydroxyl groups to the deposited layer.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the deposited layer is treated with the plasma from an oxygen-containing gas at an RF power of between about 50 W and about 3000 W for a period of between about 0.1 seconds and about 120 seconds.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the layer is a barrier layer.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising etching the layer to form a spacer around a gate stack after the desired thickness of the layer is obtained.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein treating the layer with a plasma comprises applying RF power.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising terminating the treating the layer with a plasma by interrupting the RF power and the oxygen-containing gas before the repeating the exposing and treating.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the silicon-containing precursor is selected from the group consisting of octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane, methyldiethoxysilane, bis(tertiary-butylamino)silane, tridimethylaminosilane, trisdimethylaminosilane, silane, disilane, dichlorosilane, trichlorosilane, dibromosilane, silicon tetrachloride, and silicon tetrabromide, and the oxygen-containing gas is selected from the group consisting of oxygen gas and nitrous oxide.

14. A method of forming a layer on a patterned substrate in a chamber, comprising: exposing the patterned substrate to octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane in the presence of a plasma to deposit a layer on the patterned substrate;treating the layer after it is deposited with a plasma from oxygen gas; andrepeating the exposing and treating until a desired thickness of the layer is obtained.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the layer is a silicon oxide layer or a carbon-doped silicon oxide layer.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the treating the layer with a plasma from an oxygen-containing gas comprises removing methyl groups from the deposited layer, and wherein the treating the layer with a plasma from an oxygen-containing gas further comprises adding hydroxyl groups to the deposited layer.

17. A method of forming a layer on a patterned substrate in a chamber, comprising: exposing the patterned substrate to a silicon-containing precursor in the presence of a plasma to deposit a layer on the patterned substrate;treating the layer after it is deposited with a plasma from a nitrogen-containing gas; andrepeating the exposing and treating until a desired thickness of the layer is obtained.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the silicon-containing precursor comprises a Si-N backbone and one or more alkyl groups bonded to silicon.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the silicon-containing precursor is selected from the group consisting of octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane, methyldiethoxysilane, bis(tertiary-butylamino)silane, tridimethylaminosilane, trisdimethylaminosilane, silane, disilane, dichlorosilane, trichlorosilane, dibromosilane, silicon tetrachloride, and silicon tetrabromide.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the layer comprises silicon and nitrogen.