METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR IONIZED PLASMA DEPOSITION

• US 20030141186A1
• Filed: 02/16/2000
• Published: 07/31/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 02/16/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Applied Materials Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Applied Materials Incorporated
• Inventors: Wang, Wei, Van Gogh, James
• Granted Patent: US 6,627,056 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 204/298.07
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 37/32082 Radio frequency generated discharge H01J37/32357, H01J37/32366, H01J37/32394 and H01J37/32403 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 37/3244 Gas supply means
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 37/34 operating with cathodic sputtering H01J37/36 takes precedence ; methods of cathodic sputtering C23C14/34
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/2855 by physical means, e.g. sputtering, evaporation H01L21/28518 - H01L21/28537 and H01L21/28568 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/76843 formed in openings in a dielectric

Abstract

A system for performing PVD of metallic nitride(s) is disclosed. The improved performance is provided by a method of increasing the partial pressures of nitrogen or other active gases near the wafer surface through initial introduction of the argon or other neutral gases alone into an ionized metal plasma PVD chamber through an upper gas inlet at or near the target, initiating the plasma in the presence of argon or other neutral gases alone, after which nitrogen or other active gases are introduced into the chamber through a lower gas inlet at or near the wafer surface to increase deposition rates and lower electrical resistivity of the deposited metallic layer. An apparatus for carrying out the invention includes a source of argon near the target surface and a source of nitrogen integral to the substrate support thereby delivering nitrogen near the substrate surface.

Claims

1. A plasma enhanced physical vapor deposition system chamber, comprising:

a vacuum chamber housing having;

a sputtering target;

a substrate support member disposed therein;

a first gas inlet port in the vacuum chamber housing proximate the sputtering target for providing a first gas proximate the sputtering target; and

a second gas inlet port in the vacuum chamber housing proximate the substrate support member for providing a second gas proximate the substrate support member.

2. The chamber of claim 1, further including:

a first gas supply and a first pumping system for maintaining a first gas at a pre-determined pressure in the vacuum chamber housing; and

a second gas supply and a second pumping system for maintaining a second gas at a pre-determined pressure in the vacuum chamber housing.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the first gas is an inert gas.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the second gas is an active gas.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein the first gas is argon.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the second gas is nitrogen.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the sputtering target is made of a material selected from the group of titanium, tantalum, copper aluminum, tungsten and combinations thereof.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the second gas inlet port extends through and is formed integrally with the substrate support member.

9. A plasma enhanced physical vapor deposition system, comprising:

a vacuum chamber housing;

a sputtering target disposed on one end of the chamber housing;

a substrate support member disposed in the chamber housing;

an argon gas inlet proximate the sputtering target; and

a nitrogen gas inlet proximate the substrate support member.

10. A method of enhancing the deposition of metallic film layers on a substrate within a vacuum chamber having a sputtering target and substrate support member therein, comprising the steps of:

substantially evacuating the vacuum chamber;

in a gas stabilization step, introducing a first gas at a predetermined pressure into the vacuum chamber proximate a sputtering target;

following the gas stabilization step, initiating a plasma within the chamber via a power ramp step; and

following the power ramp step, in a metallic deposition step, introducing a second gas into the chamber with the plasma already initiated and applying coil and wafer bias to initiate sputtering.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the first gas is argon and the second gas is nitrogen.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the sputtering target is made of a material elected from the group of Ti, Ta, or a combination thereof.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the argon introduced during the gas stabilization step is about 40 sccm.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the power ramp step includes initiating the plasma by applying target power and RF power in the presence of substantially argon.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the metallic deposition step is a metallic TiN deposition step and wherein the nitrogen introduced during the metallic TiN deposition step is about 28 sccm.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein during the gas stabilization step the first gas is introduced proximate the sputtering target surface.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein during the metallic deposition step, the second gas is introduced proximate the surface of a substrate supported by the substrate support member.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the first gas is argon, the second gas is nitrogen, and the sputtering target is titanium.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the sputtering target is made of a material elected from the group of Ti, Ta, or a combination thereof.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the argon introduced during the gas stabilization step is about 40 sccm.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the power ramp step includes initiating the plasma by applying target power and RF power in the presence of only argon.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the metallic deposition step is a metallic TiN deposition step and wherein the nitrogen introduced during the metallic TiN deposition step is about 28 sccm.

23. A method of enhancing the deposition of metallic film layers on a substrate within a vacuum chamber having a sputtering target and substrate support member therein, comprising the steps of:

substantially evacuating the vacuum chamber;

in a gas stabilization step, introducing a first gas mixture at a predetermined pressure into the vacuum chamber proximate a sputtering target;

following the gas stabilization step, in a power ramp step, initiating a plasma within the chamber; and

following the power ramp step, in a metallic deposition step, introducing a second gas into the chamber with the plasma already initiated and applying coil and wafer bias to initiate sputtering.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the first gas mixture is argon and nitrogen, the second gas is nitrogen, and the sputtering target is titanium.

25. A program product, which when read and executed by a computer, comprises the steps of:

substantially evacuating the vacuum chamber;

in a gas stabilization step, introducing a first gas at a pre-determined pressure into the vacuum chamber proximate a sputtering target;

following the gas stabilization step, initiating a plasma within the chamber via a power ramp step; and

following the power ramp step, in a metallic deposition step, introducing a second gas into the chamber with the plasma already initiated and applying coil and wafer bias to initiate sputtering.

26. A program product, which when read and executed by a computer, comprises the steps of:

substantially evacuating the vacuum chamber;

in a gas stabilization step, introducing a first gas mixture at a predetermined pressure into the vacuum chamber proximate a sputtering target;

following the gas stabilization step, in a power ramp step, initiating a plasma within the chamber; and

following the power ramp step, in a metallic deposition step, introducing a second gas into the chamber with the plasma already initiated and applying coil and wafer bias to initiate sputtering.