Method and apparatus for depositing material upon a semiconductor wafer using a transition chamber of a multiple chamber semiconductor wafer processing system

• US 6,251,759 B1
• Filed: 10/03/1998
• Issued: 06/26/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 10/03/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Applied Materials Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Applied Materials Incorporated
• Inventors: Li, Shih-Hung, Guo, Xin Sheng, Schmitt, John V.
• Primary Examiner(s): Niebling, John F.
• Assistant Examiner(s): LINDSAY JR, WALTER LEE
• Application Number:
  US09/165,661
• Time in Patent Office: 997 Days
• Field of Search: 438/584, 438/687, 438/682, 438/761
• US Class Current: 438/584
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67167 surrounding a central transfer chamber
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67184 characterized by the presence of more than one transfer chamber
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67207 comprising a chamber adapted to a particular process

Abstract

An improvement in the deposition of materials in a multiple chamber semiconductor processing cluster tool comprising a first cluster of first chambers, a second cluster of second chambers and a transition chamber located between the first cluster and the second cluster, where the transition chamber is adapted to deposit a material upon a wafer. Specifically, the transition chamber provides a flash coating of PVD copper on the wafer which significantly improves the adhesion of subsequently CVD deposited bulk copper without sacrifice in the throughput of the cluster tool.

Claims

1. A method of depositing a material upon a semiconductor wafer comprising the steps of:

moving a wafer from a first chamber within a first cluster of chambers to a transition chamber;

depositing, within said transition chamber, a first layer of said material; and

moving said wafer from said transition chamber to a second chamber in a second cluster of chambers for depositing a second layer upon said first layer.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said first layer of material is a copper seed layer.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein said copper seed layer is deposited using physical vapor deposition.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein said copper seed layer is deposited using a flash coating process.

5. The method of claim 2 wherein said copper seed layer is about 50 to 100 Å

thick.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the wafer is in residence in the transition chamber for less than about one minute.

7. The method of claim 2 wherein said second layer of material is bulk copper.

8. The method of claim 4 wherein said bulk copper is deposited using chemical vapor deposition.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein both said moving steps are performed by a wafer transport mechanism.