Selective plasma deposition

• US 5,858,471 A
• Filed: 10/03/1996
• Issued: 01/12/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 04/08/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Aixtron Inc. (Aixtron AG)
• Original Assignee: Genus PLC
• Inventors: Ray, Mark A., McGuire, Gary E.
• Primary Examiner(s): PADGETT, MARIANNE L
• Application Number:
  US08/724,967
• Time in Patent Office: 831 Days
• Field of Search: 427/523, 427/525, 427/526, 427/530, 427/531, 427/570, 427/571, 427/573, 427/576, 427/577, 427/249, 427/250, 427/255.3, 427/524, 204/192.14, 204/192.16, 204/192.17, 204/192.22, 204/192.3, 423/446
• US Class Current: 427/524
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 14/04 Coating on selected surface areas, e.g. using masks
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 14/32 by explosion; by evaporation and subsequent ionisation of the vapours , e.g. ion-platingC23C14/34 - C23C14/48 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/04 Coating on selected surface areas, e.g. using masks
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/50 using electric discharges generation and control of plasma in discharge tubes for surface treatment H01J37/32, H01J37/34

Abstract

A deposition process provides selective areal deposition on a substrate surface having separate areas of different materials comprises forming a plasma over the substrate, injecting coating species into the plasma by either of sputtering or gaseous injection, adding a reactive gas for altering surface binding energy at the coating surface, and biasing the substrate during deposition to bombard the substrate with ionic species from the plasma. Surface binding energy is altered, in the general case, differently for the separate areas, enhancing selectivity. Bias power is managed to exploit the alteration in surface binding energy. In the case of gaseous injection of the coating species, and in some cases of sputtering provision of the coating material, the temperature of the substrate surface is managed as well. In an alternative embodiment, selectivity is to phase of the coating material rather than to specific areas on the substrate, and a selected phase may be preferentially deposited on the substrate.

Claims

1. A method for performing area-selective deposition comprising steps of:

(a) placing a substrate having a surface with a first substrate surface region and a second substrate surface region on a substrate support in a deposition chamber, wherein the first substrate surface region and the second substrate surface region have a different physical surface characteristic;

(b) forming a gas plasma over the substrate surface by means of a plasma power supply acting through an electrode other than the substrate support;

(c) introducing one or more elemental components to be deposited on the substrate surface into the plasma, causing the one or more elemental components to deposit on the first and second substrate surface regions;

(d) electrically biasing the substrate surface to a common bias value over both the first and the second substrate surface regions by a bias power supply separate from the plasma power supply and connected to the substrate support, thereby attracting ions from the plasma to bombard both the first and second substrate surface regions, net deposition rate on any region then being the algebraic sum of a positive deposition rate from step (c) and a negative backsputtering rate caused by the ion bombardment due to the substrate bias; and

(e) recognizing that the different physical surface characteristic of the first and the second regions as recited in the step (a) result in a difference in binding energy at the surface of each region in deposition of the one or more elemental components to be deposited, providing therefore a different net deposition rate for each region, adjusting the common bias value applied to the substrate surface by the bias power supply to a bias value at which positive net deposition occurs on only the first substrate surface region to form a solid film thereon.

2. The method of claim 1 comprising a further step for introducing a control gas into the plasma along with the one or more elemental components, the control gas selected for ability to alter the surface binding energy (E_SB) for the one or more elemental components at the substrate surface in one or both of the first and second regions.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more elemental components are introduced into the plasma in one or more gaseous compounds.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more elemental components are introduced into the plasma from one or more targets comprising the one or more elemental components through bombardment of the one or more targets by ions from the plasma accelerated to the one or more targets by electrically biasing the one or more targets.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein one of the one or more targets is biased by dc electrical potential.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the plasma at one of the one or more targets is magnetically enhanced.

7. The method of claim 4 wherein one of the one or more targets is electrically non-conductive and is biased by an alternating potential.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the alternating potential has a frequency in the RF range.

9. The method of claim 3 wherein one of the one or more elemental components is tungsten (W) and is introduced into the plasma as WF₆.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising a step for introducing a control gas into the plasma along with the WF₆, the control gas selected for ability to alter surface binding energy (E_SB) for tungsten at the substrate surface in one or both of the first and second regions.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the control gas is a fluorine-bearing gas.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the fluorine-bearing gas is one of F₂ or CF₄.

13. The method of claim 3 wherein the solid film is Tungsten Silicide, the tungsten introduced into the plasma by introducing Tungsten Hexafluoride and the silicon introduced into the plasma by introducing Silane.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising a step for introducing a control gas into the plasma along with the tungsten hexafluoride and silane, the control gas selected for ability to alter surface binding energy (E_SB) for one or both of the tungsten or the silicon at the substrate surface in one or both of the first and second regions.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the control gas is a fluorine-bearing gas.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the fluorine-bearing gas is one of CF₄ or F₂.

17. The method of claim 4 having one elemental component and one target, wherein the target and the elemental component are tungsten.

18. The method of claim 17 further comprising a step for introducing a control gas into the plasma along with the tungsten hexafluoride and silane, the control gas selected for ability to alter the surface binding energy (E_SB) for one or both of the tungsten or the silicon at the substrate surface in one or both of the first and second substrate surface regions.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the control gas selected to alter the surface binding energy is N₂.

20. The method of claim 4 wherein the elemental components are titanium and tungsten and the target is a composite target of titanium and tungsten.

21. The method of claim 20 further comprising a step for introducing a control gas into the plasma along with the titanium and tungsten, the control gas selected for ability to alter the surface binding energy (E_SB) for one or both of the titanium or the tungsten at the substrate surface in one or both of the first and second substrate surface regions.

22. The method of claim 20 wherein the control gas is one of CF₄ and N₂.

23. The method of claim 1 wherein the difference in physical characteristic between the first substrate surface region and the second substrate surface region is a difference in elemental constituent content.

24. The method of claim 1 wherein the difference in physical characteristic between the first substrate surface region and the second substrate surface region is a difference in grain structure.

25. A method for phase-selective deposition on a substrate, comprising steps of:

(a) placing a substrate having a surface upon which deposition of a first physical phase of an element or compound is desired in a deposition chamber upon a substrate support which may be electrically biased by a bias power supply;

(b) establishing a plasma deposition process wherein the element or compound desired deposits on the substrate in both the first physical phase and a second physical phase;

(c) providing a bias value to the substrate support, such that ions from the plasma are attracted to and bombard the substrate surface, causing thereby a backsputtering effect; and

(c) recognizing that the positive deposition rate for each of the first and the second physical phases will differ under identical deposition conditions, and that the net deposition rate for the first and second physical phases will differ and decrease with increased substrate bias because the backsputtering rate will increase, there being thereby a point of bias value as bias is increased at which the net deposition rate for the second physical phase will become zero while the net deposition rate for the first physical phase other is still positive, adjusting the bias value to a value at which only the net deposition rate for the first physical phase is positive thereby selectively depositing the first physical phase in a film.

26. The method of claim 25 further comprising a step for introducing a control gas into the plasma along with a source of the element or compound, the control gas selected for ability to alter surface binding energy (E_SB) for at least one of the physical phases at the substrate surface.

27. The method of claim 25 wherein a source of the element or compound is introduced into the plasma as a gaseous material.

28. The method of claim 25 wherein a source of the element or component is introduced into the plasma from a target through bombardment by ions from the plasma accelerated to the target by electrically biasing the target.

29. The method of claim 28 wherein the element or compound is Carbon, the target is graphitic-phase carbon, and the first physical phase is diamond-phase carbon.

30. The method of claim 29 further comprising a step for introducing a control gas into the plasma along with the carbon, the control gas selected for ability to alter surface binding energy (E_SB) for one of the physical phases at the substrate surface.

31. The method of claim 30 wherein the control gas introduced into the plasma is a fluorine-bearing gas.

32. The method of claim 31 wherein the control gas is CF₄.