Alternate steps of IMP and sputtering process to improve sidewall coverage

• US 6,350,353 B2
• Filed: 11/24/1999
• Issued: 02/26/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 11/24/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Applied Materials Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Applied Materials Incorporated
• Inventors: Maity, Nirmalya, Ding, Peijun, Edelstein, Sergio, Ghosh, Debabrata, Tepman, Avi, Gopalraja, Praburam
• Primary Examiner(s): Huff, Mark F.
• Assistant Examiner(s): CHACKO DAVIS, DABORAH
• Application Number:
  US09/449,202
• Publication Number:
  US 20010003607A1
• Time in Patent Office: 825 Days
• Field of Search: 204/298.08, 204/192.3, 204/298.06, 204/192.12, 204/192.32, 204/298.13
• US Class Current: 204/192.3
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 14/046 Coating cavities or hollow spaces, e.g. interior of tubes; Infiltration of porous substrates
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 14/345 using substrate bias
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 14/358 Inductive energy
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 37/321 the radio frequency energy being inductively coupled to the plasma
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 37/3408 Planar magnetron sputtering

Abstract

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for achieving conformal step coverage on a substrate by PVD. A target provides a source of material to be sputtered by a plasma and then ionized. Ionization is facilitated by maintaining a sufficiently dense plasma using, for example, an inductive coil. The ionized material is then deposited on the substrate which is biased to a negative voltage. A signal provided to the target during processing includes a negative voltage portion and a zero-voltage portion. During the negative voltage portion, ions are attracted to the target to cause sputtering. During the zero-voltage portion, sputtering from the target is terminated while the bias on the substrate cause reverse sputtering therefrom. Accordingly, the negative voltage portion and the zero-voltage portion are alternated to cycle between a sputter step and a reverse sputter step. The film quality and uniformity can be controlled by adjusting the frequency of the signal, the chamber pressure, the power supplied to each of the support member and other process parameters.

Claims

1. An apparatus, comprising:

(a) a processing chamber;

(b) a substrate support member disposed in the processing chamber having a first power source coupled to the substrate support member and configured to provide a constant voltage;

(c) a target disposed in the processing chamber;

(d) a second power source coupled to the target adapted to vary a voltage applied to the target between relatively higher and lower voltage values while the constant voltage is provided to the substrate support member; and

(e) an electromagnetic field source.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first power source is a radio frequency (RF) power source.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second power source is selected from the group of a pulsed direct current (DC) power source, a pulsed RF power source, a DC power source in combination with a switch and any combination thereof.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second power source is a pulsed DC power source adapted to provide a signal having a negative voltage portion and a zero-voltage portion.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the target comprises a material selected from the group consisting of Ti, Cu, Ta, W, Al and any combination thereof.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a gas source coupled to the processing chamber to supply a gas for creating a plasma during processing.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the electromagnetic field source is a coil having a power supply coupled thereto.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the coil is disposed within the processing chamber.

9. A method of depositing a material on a substrate in a process chamber, wherein the substrate includes a feature formed therein, comprising:

(a) providing a plasma in the process chamber;

(b) biasing the substrate with a constant negative voltage; and

(c) during step (b), alternating between a sputtering and a reverse sputtering step, wherein the sputtering step comprises applying a bias to a target and the reverse sputtering step comprises terminating the bias to the target.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the sputtering step is adapted to provide net deposition of material on the substrate and the reverse sputtering step is adapted to provide net removal of material from the substrate.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein (a) comprises;

(1) supplying a gas; and

(2) supplying a radio frequency (RF) signal to a coil.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein (b) comprises supplying a radio frequency (RF) signal to the substrate.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the bias to the target comprises providing at least one of an RF signal and a DC signal to the target.

14. A method of depositing a material on a substrate in a process chamber having a target disposed therein, comprising:

(a) providing a plasma in the process chamber;

(b) biasing the substrate with a constant negative voltage;

(c) energizing a coil; and

(d) biasing the target with a signal having a negative voltage portion and a zero-voltage portion while biasing the substrate with the constant negative voltage.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein (c) comprises supplying a radio frequency (RF) signal to the coil.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein (c) comprises supplying a radio frequency (RF) signal to the coil at a power between about 100 W and 6 KW and at a frequency between about 400 KHz and 60 MHz.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein (d) comprises supplying a DC (direct current) to the target.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the negative voltage portion is between about 50 V and 600 V.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein the signal to the target has a frequency of between about 0.01 Hz and 1 Hz and the negative voltage portion has a pulse width between about 0.5 seconds and 60 seconds.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein the signal to the target has a duty cycle between about 10%-80%.

21. The method of claim 14, further comprising providing a device feature formed in the substrate having an aspect ratio greater than 2:

1.