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

• US 20070232082A1
• Filed: 01/30/2007
• Published: 10/04/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Applied Materials Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Applied Materials Incorporated
• Inventors: Xia, Li-Qun, Balseanu, Mihaela, M'Saad, Hichem, Shek, Meiyee
• Granted Patent: US 7,601,651 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 438/789
• 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 21/02164 the material being a silicon oxide, e.g. SiO2
• 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 21/02211 the compound being a silane, e.g. disilane, methylsilane or chlorosilane
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/02216 the compound being a molecule comprising at least one silicon-oxygen bond and the compound having hydrogen or an organic group attached to the silicon or oxygen, e.g. a siloxane
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/02274 in the presence of a plasma [PECVD]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/0228 deposition by cyclic CVD, e.g. ALD, ALE, pulsed CVD
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/31612 on a silicon body
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/31633 Deposition of carbon doped silicon oxide, e.g. SiOC
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/76831 in via holes or trenches, e.g. non-conductive sidewall liners
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/76834 formation of thin insulating films on the sidewalls or on top of conductors H01L21/76831 takes precedence

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.

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; and

repeating 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; and

repeating 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; and

repeating 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.