Gas distribution system for a CVD processing chamber

• US 6,486,081 B1
• Filed: 11/24/1999
• Issued: 11/26/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 11/13/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Applied Materials Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Applied Materials Incorporated
• Inventors: Pang, Lily, Krishnaraj, Padmanabhan, Ishikawa, Tetsuya, Gao, Feng, Collins, Alan W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Niebling, John F.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ghyka, Alexander G.
• Application Number:
  US09/449,203
• Time in Patent Office: 1,098 Days
• Field of Search: 438/787, 438/788, 438/789, 438/792, 118/719, 118/723.AW
• US Class Current: 438/788
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/401 containing silicon
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/4411 Cooling of the reaction chamber walls C23C16/45572 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/455 characterised by the method used for introducing gases into reaction chamber or for modifying gas flows in reaction chamber
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/45514 Mixing in close vicinity to the substrate
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/45563 Gas nozzles
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/45578 Elongated nozzles, tubes with holes
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/507 using external electrodes, e.g. in tunnel type reactors
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 37/3244 Gas supply means
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67069 for drying etching

Abstract

The present invention provides an apparatus for depositing a film on a substrate comprising a processing chamber, a substrate support member disposed within the chamber, a first gas inlet, a second gas inlet, a plasma generator and a gas exhaust. The first gas inlet provides a first gas at a first distance from an interior surface of the chamber, and the second gas inlet provides a second gas at a second distance that is closer than the first distance from the interior surface of the chamber. Thus, the second gas creates a higher partial pressure adjacent the interior surface of the chamber to significantly reduce deposition from the first gas onto the interior surface. The present invention also provides a method for depositing a FSG film on a substrate comprising: introducing first gas through a first gas inlet at a first distance from an interior surface of the chamber, and introducing a second gas through a second gas inlet at a second distance from the interior surface of the chamber, wherein the second gas creates a higher partial pressure adjacent the interior surface of the chamber to prevent deposition from the first gas on the interior surface. Alternatively, the first gas is introduced at a different angle from the second gas with respect to a substrate surface.

Claims

1. A method for depositing a film on a substrate in a chemical vapor deposition chamber, comprising:

a) introducing a first reactant gas through a first gas inlet at a first distance from an interior surface of the chamber;

b) introducing a second reactant gas through a second gas inlet at a second distance from the interior surface of the chamber, wherein the second reactant gas creates a higher partial pressure adjacent the interior surface of the chamber to prevent deposition from the first reactant gas on the interior surface; and

c) generating a plasma of the processing gases.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

d) coating the interior surface of the chamber with a seasoning coat before step a).

3. The method of claim 1, wherein a ratio of the second distance to the first distance is between about 0.24 and about 0.85.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first reactant gas is introduced at a different angle from the second reactant gas with respect to a substrate surface.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the second reactant gas is introduced at an angle toward the dome of the deposition chamber.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the first reactant gas is introduced at an angle toward the substrate.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first reactant gas comprises a silicon-containing gas and the second reactant gas comprises an oxygen-containing gas.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the first reactant gas further comprises a fluorine-containing gas.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the first reactant gas further comprises an inert gas.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the silicon-containing gas comprises SiH₄, the fluorine-containing gas comprises SiF₄, the inert gas comprises argon, and the oxygen-containing gas comprises oxygen.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the first reactant gas comprises a fluorine-containing gas and the second reactant gas comprises a silicon-containing gas.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the first reactant gas further comprises an oxygen-containing gas.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the second reactant gas further comprises an inert gas.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the fluorine-containing gas comprises SiF₄, the silicon-containing gas comprises SiH₄, the oxygen-containing gas comprises oxygen, and the inert gas comprises argon.

15. A method for depositing a film onto a substrate within a deposition chamber, comprising:

injecting a first process gas comprising a silicon-containing gas and a fluorine-containing gas into the chamber through a plurality of first nozzles surrounding the substrate; and

injecting a second process gas comprising an oxygen-containing gas into the chamber through a plurality of second nozzles surrounding the substrate;

wherein the plurality of second nozzles inject the second process gases closer to an interior surface of the chamber than the plurality of first nozzles inject the first process gas.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the first process gas further comprises an inert gas.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the silicon-containing gas comprises SiH₄, the fluorine-containing gas comprises SiF₄, the inert gas comprises argon, and the oxygen-containing gas comprises oxygen.

18. The method according to claim 15, wherein the silicon-containing gas and the fluorine-containing gas are injected at a flow ratio of from about 0.8:

1 to about 1.2;

1 by volume.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein the flow ratio of the silicon-containing gas and the fluorine-containing gas is about 1:

1.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein the first process gas and the second process gas are injected at a flow ratio of about 1:

1 by volume.

21. The method of claim 15, the fluorine-containing gas is injected into the chamber at a rate between about 15 sccm and 150 sccm, the silicon-containing gas is injected into the chamber at a rate between about 15 sccm and 150 sccm, and the oxygen-containing gas is injected into the chamber at a rate between about 40 sccm to about 500 sccm.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein the oxygen-containing gas is injected at a flow ratio to the silicon-containing gas and the fluorine-containing gas of about 1.5:

1 to about 2;

1 by volume.

23. The method according to claim 21, further comprising injecting from 0 to 200 sccm of an inert gas into the chamber.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein the inert gas is injected through the first nozzles.

25. The method of claim 23, the wherein the silicon-containing gas comprises SiH₄, the fluorine-containing gas comprises SiF₄, the inert gas comprises argon, and the oxygen-containing gas comprises oxygen.

26. The method according to claim 15, wherein the first nozzles are longer than the second nozzles.

27. The method of claim 15, wherein the first process gas is introduced at a different angle from the second process gas with respect to a substrate surface.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the second process gas is introduced at an angle toward the dome of the deposition chamber.

29. The method of claim 27, wherein the first process gas is introduced at an angle toward the substrate.

30. A method for distributing processing gases in a processing chamber, comprising:

a) introducing a first gas comprising a fluorine-containing gas through a first gas inlet at a first distance from an interior surface of the chamber; and

b) introducing a second gas through a second gas inlet at a second distance from the interior surface of the chamber, wherein the second gas creates a higher partial pressure adjacent the interior surface of the chamber to prevent deposition from the first gas on the interior surface.

31. The method of claim 30 wherein the first gas further comprises an oxygen-containing gas and the second gas comprises a silicon-containing gas.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the second gas further comprises an inert gas.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the fluorine-containing gas comprises SiF₄, the oxygen-containing gas comprises oxygen, the silicon-containing gas comprises SiH₄, and the inert gas comprises argon.

34. The method of claim 30, wherein the first gas comprises a silicon-containing gas and the second gas comprises an oxygen-containing gas.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the first gas further comprises an inert gas.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein the silicon-containing gas comprises SiH₄, the oxygen-containing gas comprises oxygen, the fluorine-containing gas comprises SiF₄, and the inert gas comprises argon.

37. The method of claim 30, wherein a ratio of the second distance to the first distance is between about 0.24 and about 0.85.

38. The method of claim 30, wherein the first gas is introduced at a different angle from the second gas with respect to a substrate surface.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein the second gas is introduced at an angle toward the dome of the deposition chamber.

40. The method of claim 38, wherein the first gas is introduced at an angle toward the substrate.

41. A method for distributing processing gases in a processing chamber, comprising:

a) introducing a first gas through a first gas inlet; and

b) introducing at an angle toward the dome of the deposition chamber a second gas through a second gas inlet, wherein the second gas creates a higher partial pressure adjacent the interior surface of the dome of the deposition chamber to prevent deposition from the first gas on the interior surface.

42. A method for depositing a film over a substrate in a chemical vapor deposition chamber, comprising:

step for creating a higher partial pressure of a second reactant gas in relation to a first reactant gas comprising a fluorine-containing gas adjacent an interior surface of the chamber to prevent deposition of the first reactant gas on the interior surface; and

step for depositing material from the first gas and the second gas to form the film over the substrate.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein the second reactant gas comprises a silicon-containing gas.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein the first reactant gas further comprises an oxygen-containing gas.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein the second reactant gas further comprises an inert gas.

46. The method of claim 45, wherein the fluorine-containing gas comprises SiF₄, the silicon-containing gas comprises SiH₄, the oxygen-containing gas comprises oxygen, and the inert gas comprises argon.

47. The method of claim 42, wherein the second reactant gas comprises an oxygen-containing gas.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein the first reactant gas further comprises a silicon-containing gas.

49. The method of claim 48, wherein the first reactant gas further comprises an inert gas.

50. The method of claim 49, wherein the fluorine-containing gas comprises SiF₄, the oxygen-containing gas comprises oxygen, the silicon-containing gas comprises SiH₄, and the inert gas comprises argon.

51. The method of claim 42, wherein the interior surface of the chamber comprises a chamber dome.