Situ measurement of film nitridation using optical emission spectroscopy
First Claim
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1. A method for nitriding a silicon oxide film formed over a substrate disposed in a substrate processing chamber, said method comprising:
- providing a substrate having an exposed silicon oxide film on an upper face thereof;
flowing a gas comprising nitrogen into the chamber;
forming a plasma from said gas and exposing said silicon oxide film to said plasma so as to nitridate said oxide film;
measuring an optical emission of the plasma while said silicon oxide film is being nitridized by exposure to said plasma so as to obtain OES data; and
using said OES data to monitor said nitriding process.
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Abstract
A method of nitriding a silicon oxide film according to the present invention includes flowing a nitrogen-containing gas into a substrate processing chamber and forming a plasma from the gas. Optical emissions from the plasma are then measured while a silicon oxide film deposited over a substrate disposed in the chamber is exposed to the plasma to obtain OES data that is used to optimize, monitor and/or stop the nitriding process.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A method for nitriding a silicon oxide film formed over a substrate disposed in a substrate processing chamber, said method comprising:
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providing a substrate having an exposed silicon oxide film on an upper face thereof;
flowing a gas comprising nitrogen into the chamber;
forming a plasma from said gas and exposing said silicon oxide film to said plasma so as to nitridate said oxide film;
measuring an optical emission of the plasma while said silicon oxide film is being nitridized by exposure to said plasma so as to obtain OES data; and
using said OES data to monitor said nitriding process. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
comparing the measured wavelengths with wavelengths measured during a previous substrate processing operation using a pattern recognition technique.
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5. The method of claim 1 wherein said silicon oxide film is an undoped silicon glass film.
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6. The method of claim 1 wherein said OES data is used to stop said nitriding process in response to a fault detection.
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7. A method for nitriding a silicon oxide film formed over a substrate disposed in a substrate processing chamber, said method comprising:
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flowing a gas comprising nitrogen into the chamber;
forming a plasma from said gas and exposing said silicon oxide film to said plasma;
measuring an optical emission of the plasma while said silicon oxide film is exposed to said plasma to obtain OES data;
normalizing said OES data to previously measured OES data; and
using said normalized OES data to endpoint said nitriding process. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of fabricating an integrated circuit on a silicon substrate having an upper surface, said method comprising:
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forming source and drain regions under said upper surface;
forming a gate oxide over said upper surface;
nitriding said gate oxide by exposing said gate oxide to a nitrogen-containing plasma, wherein said nitriding is endpointed in response to a detection of optical emissions from said plasma. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification