Process for formation of epitaxial film
First Claim
1. A process for forming a silicon-containing epitaxial film on a substrate arranged in a film-forming space by a sputtering method comprising the steps of:
- (a) introducing into said film-forming space containing said substrate therein a plasma-generating raw process gas containing 1 ppm or less of each of H2 O, CO and CO2 ;
(b) controlling the partial pressure of each of said H2 O, CO and CO2 to a value of 1.0×
10-8 Torr or less and the sum of the partial pressures of said H2 O, CO and CO2 to a value of 1.0×
10-8 Torr or less in the gaseous atmosphere in said film-forming space;
(c) maintaining said substrate at a temperature in the range of 400°
to 700°
C.;
(d) applying a DC voltage to a silicon-containing target arranged in said film-forming space while simultaneously applying a plasma-generating high frequency power to said silicon containing target, to produce plasma in said film forming space, wherein said silicon-containing target is sputtered by said plasma to cause the formation of said silicon-containing epitaxial film on said substrate.
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Abstract
A process for forming an epitaxial film on a biased substrate by sputtering a target to which a bias voltage and a plasma-generating high-frequency power are applied, wherein the film formation is carried out in an atmosphere having H2 O, CO and CO2 partial pressures controlled at 1.0×10-8 Torr, with the substrate temperature maintained in the range of from 400° to 700° C. The epitaxial film obtained by the process has excellent interface characteristics, very low impurity contents, good crystallinity and excellent step coverage, and is suitable for application to semiconductor devices.
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Citations
7 Claims
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1. A process for forming a silicon-containing epitaxial film on a substrate arranged in a film-forming space by a sputtering method comprising the steps of:
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(a) introducing into said film-forming space containing said substrate therein a plasma-generating raw process gas containing 1 ppm or less of each of H2 O, CO and CO2 ; (b) controlling the partial pressure of each of said H2 O, CO and CO2 to a value of 1.0×
10-8 Torr or less and the sum of the partial pressures of said H2 O, CO and CO2 to a value of 1.0×
10-8 Torr or less in the gaseous atmosphere in said film-forming space;(c) maintaining said substrate at a temperature in the range of 400°
to 700°
C.;(d) applying a DC voltage to a silicon-containing target arranged in said film-forming space while simultaneously applying a plasma-generating high frequency power to said silicon containing target, to produce plasma in said film forming space, wherein said silicon-containing target is sputtered by said plasma to cause the formation of said silicon-containing epitaxial film on said substrate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A process for forming a silicon-containing epitaxial film on a substrate arranged in a film-forming space by a sputtering method said process comprising the steps of:
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(a) introducing into said film-forming space containing said substrate therein a plasma-generating process gas containing 1 ppm or less of each of H2 O, CO and CO2 ; (b) controlling the partial pressure of each of said H2 O, CO and CO2 to a value of 1.0×
10-8 Torr or less and the sum of the partial pressures of said H2 O, CO and CO2 to a value of 1.0×
10-8 Torr or less in the gaseous atmosphere in said film-forming space;(c) maintaining said substrate at a temperature in the range of 400°
to 700°
C.;(d) applying a DC voltage to a silicon-containing target arranged in said film-forming space while simultaneously applying a plasma-generating high frequency power to said silicon-containing target and a high frequency power of a frequency higher than that of said plasma-generating high frequency power to said substrate, to produce plasma in said film-forming space, wherein said silicon-containing target is sputtered by said plasma to cause the formation of said silicon-containing epitaxial film on said substrate.
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5. A process for forming a silicon-containing epitaxial film on a substrate arranged in a film-forming space by a sputtering method, said process comprising the steps of:
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(a) introducing a plasma-generating raw process gas whose content of each of H2 O, CO, and CO2 being 1 ppm or less into said film-forming space containing said substrate therein; (b) controlling the gaseous atmosphere in said film-forming space to have a vacuum, wherein a partial pressure of each of said H2 O, CO, and CO2 is 1.0×
10-8 or less, and the sum of the partial pressures of said H2 O, CO, and CO2 is 1.0×
10-8 or less;(c) maintaining said substrate at a temperature in the range of 400°
to 700°
C.; and(d) applying a DC voltage to a silicon-containing target arranged in said film-forming space while simultaneously applying a plasma-generating high frequency power to said silicon-containing target to produce plasma in said film-forming space, wherein said silicon-containing target is sputtered by said plasma to cause the formation of said silicon-containing epitaxial film on said substrate. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7)
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Specification