Liquid precursors for the CVD deposition of amorphous carbon films

• US 20050287771A1
• Filed: 02/24/2005
• Published: 12/29/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 03/05/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Applied Materials Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Applied Materials Incorporated
• Inventors: Padhi, Deenesh, Seamons, Martin Jay, Kim, Bok Hoen, Sivaramakrishnan, Visweswaren, M'Saad, Hichem, Tang, Sum-Yee Betty, Yeh, Wendy H., Kwan, Michael Chiu, Luan, Andy (Hsin Chiao), Kulkarni, Priya, Wang, Yuxiang May, Rathi, Sudha S.R.
• Granted Patent: US 7,407,893 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 438/482
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/505 using radio frequency discharges
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/02115 the material being carbon, e.g. alpha-C, diamond or hydrogen doped carbon
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/02126 the material containing Si, O, and at least one of H, N, C, F, or other non-metal elements, e.g. SiOC, SiOC:H or SiONC
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/02167 the material being a silicon carbide not containing oxygen, e.g. SiC, SiC:H or silicon carbonitrides H01L21/02126 and H01L21/0214 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/0217 the material being a silicon nitride not containing oxygen, e.g. SixNy or SixByNz H01L21/02126 and H01L21/0214 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/02205 the layer being characterised by the precursor material for deposition
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/02274 in the presence of a plasma [PECVD]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/3146 Carbon layers, e.g. diamond-like layers
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/76801 characterised by the formation and the after-treatment of the dielectrics, e.g. smoothing
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/76802 by forming openings in dielectrics
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/7681 involving one or more buried masks
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/76829 characterised by the formation of thin functional dielectric layers, e.g. dielectric etch-stop, barrier, capping or liner layers

Abstract

Methods are provided for depositing amorphous carbon materials. In one aspect, the invention provides a method for processing a substrate including positioning the substrate in a processing chamber, introducing a processing gas into the processing chamber, wherein the processing gas comprises a carrier gas, hydrogen, and one or more precursor compounds, generating a plasma of the processing gas by applying power from a dual-frequency RF source, and depositing an amorphous carbon layer on the substrate.

Claims

1. A method for processing a substrate in a processing chamber, comprising:

positioning the substrate in a processing chamber;

introducing a processing gas into the processing chamber, wherein the processing gas comprises hydrogen and one or more precursor compounds having a formula of C_AH_BO_CF_D, wherein A has a range of between 1 and 24, B has a range of between 0 and 50, C has a range of 0 to 10, D has a range of 0 to 50, and the sum of B and D is at least 2;

generating a plasma of the processing gas by applying power from a dual-frequency RF source; and

depositing an amorphous carbon layer on the substrate.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising etching the amorphous carbon layer to form a patterned amorphous carbon layer.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more precursor compounds are selected from the group consisting of methane, ethane, ethylene, propylene, propyne, propane, butane, butylenes, butadiene, acetylene, pentane, pentene, pentadiene, cyclopentane, cyclopentadiene, benzene, toluene, alpha-terpinene, phenol, and cymene, and combinations thereof.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising removing the amorphous carbon layer from the substrate using a hydrogen-containing plasma, a nitrogen-containing plasma, an oxygen-containing plasma, or combination thereof.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating the plasma comprises applying a first RF power at a first frequency and applying a second RF power at a second frequency less than the first frequency.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the generating the plasma comprises applying a first RF power between at a first frequency between about 10 Mhz and about 30 Mhz applying a second RF power at a second frequency between about 10 kHz and about 1 MHz.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the ratio of second RF power to first RF power is less than about 0.6:

1.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the first Rf power is from about 200 W to about 1600 W and the second Rf power is from about 200 W to about 1000 W.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more hydrocarbon compounds is liquid at a temperature of about 20°

C.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising vaporizing the one or more hydrocarbon compounds before being introduced into the processing chamber.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more hydrocarbon precursors each may further comprise nitrogen, boron, fluorine, oxygen, hydroxyl groups, or combinations thereof.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more fluorine based compounds are selected from the group consisting of fluorine (F₂), nitrogen trifluoride (NF₃), CHF₃, CH₂F₂, and combinations thereof.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the anti-reflective coating is a material selected from the group of silicon nitride, silicon carbide, carbon-doped silicon oxide, amorphous carbon, and combinations thereof.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the etch selectivity of amorphous carbon to the dielectric material is greater than about 1:

7.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the processing gas further comprises a carrier gas.

16. A method for processing a substrate in a processing chamber, comprising:

positioning the substrate in a processing chamber;

introducing a processing gas into the processing chamber, wherein the processing gas comprises a carrier gas, hydrogen, and one or more precursor compounds having a formula of C_AH_BO_CF_D, wherein A has a range of between 1 and 24, B has a range of between 0 and 50, C has a range of 0 to 10, D has a range of 0 to 50, and the sum of B and D is at least 2;

generating a plasma of the processing gas by applying power from a dual-frequency RF source;

depositing an amorphous carbon layer on the substrate;

etching the amorphous carbon layer to form a patterned amorphous carbon layer;

removing the one or more amorphous carbon layers; and

depositing a conductive material on the surface of the substrate.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

depositing one or more anti-reflective coating on the one or more amorphous carbon layers; and

patterning resist material on the anti-reflective coating; and

etching the anti-reflective coating prior to or concurrent with etching the one or more amorphous carbon layers.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising depositing a dielectric layer prior to depositing the conductive material.

19. The method of claim 16, further comprising depositing a barrier layer prior to depositing the conductive material.

20. A method for processing a substrate in a processing chamber, comprising:

positioning the substrate in a processing chamber;

introducing a processing gas into the processing chamber, wherein the processing gas comprises a carrier gas, hydrogen, and one or more precursor compounds having a formula of C_AH_BO_CF_D, wherein A has a range of between 1 and 24, B has a range of between 0 and 50, C has a range of 0 to 10, D has a range of 0 to 50, and the sum of B and D is at least 2;

generating a plasma of the processing gas by applying power from a dual-frequency RF source;

depositing an amorphous carbon layer on the substrate defining a pattern in at least one region of the one or more amorphous carbon layers; and

forming feature definitions in the one or more dielectric layers by the pattern formed in the at least one region of the one or more amorphous carbon layers.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising removing the one or more amorphous carbon layers by exposing the one or more amorphous carbon layers to a plasma prior to depositing one or more conductive materials in the feature definitions, wherein the plasma is a gas selected from the group of hydrogen containing gas, nitrogen containing gas, oxygen containing gas, and combinations thereof.

22. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

polishing the one or more conductive materials and stopping on the one or more amorphous carbon layers; and

removing the one or more amorphous carbon layers by exposing the one or more amorphous carbon layers to a plasma of a hydrogen-containing gas.

23. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

depositing an anti-reflective coating on the one or more amorphous carbon layers; and

patterning resist material on the anti-reflective coating; and

etching the anti-reflective coating prior to or concurrent with etching the one or more amorphous carbon layers.

24. The method of claim 20, further comprising depositing a third amorphous carbon layer on the second amorphous carbon layer by a method comprising:

introducing a processing gas into the processing chamber, wherein the processing gas comprises one or more aliphatic hydrocarbon compounds; and

generating a plasma of the processing gas.