Plating a conductive material on a dielectric material

• US 6,682,989 B1
• Filed: 11/20/2002
• Issued: 01/27/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 11/20/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Goodner, Michael D., Johnston, Steven W., Kloster, Grant
• Primary Examiner(s): LEBENTRITT, MICHAEL
• Application Number:
  US10/300,378
• Time in Patent Office: 433 Days
• Field of Search: 438/454, 438/99, 438/637, 438/738, 438/645, 438/656, 438/628, 438/638, 438/639, 438/737, 438/925, 438/529, 438/530
• US Class Current: 438/454
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 18/1607 by direct patterning
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 18/1639 Substrates other than metallic, e.g. inorganic or organic or non-conductive
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 18/1641 Organic substrates, e.g. resin, plastic
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 18/1653 Two or more layers with at least one layer obtained by electroless plating and one layer obtained by electroplating
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 18/1868 Radiation, e.g. UV, laser
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 18/1893 with use of organic or inorganic compounds other than metals, first
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/02282 liquid deposition, e.g. spin-coating, sol-gel techniques, spray coating
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/02348 treatment by exposure to UV light
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/288 from a liquid, e.g. electrolytic deposition
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/312 Organic layers, e.g. photoresist H01L21/3105, H01L21/32 take precedence; photoresists per se G03C
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/3205 Deposition of non-insulating-, e.g. conductive- or resistive-, layers on insulating layers; After-treatment of these layers manufacture of electrodes H01L21/28
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/76843 formed in openings in a dielectric
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/76874 for electroless plating
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 23/53238 Additional layers associated with copper layers, e.g. adhesion, barrier, cladding layers

Abstract

A surface may be selectively coated with a polymer using an induced surface grafting or polymerization reaction. The reaction proceeds in those regions that are polymerizable and not in other regions. Thus, a semiconductor structure having organic regions and metal regions exposed, for example, may have the organic polymers formed selectively on the organic regions and not on the unpolymerizable or metal regions.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

forming a semiconductor substrate having a first exposed polymerizable dielectric surface and a second exposed unpolymerizable surface; and

causing polymerization to occur selectively on the dielectric surface while avoiding polymerization on the unpolymerizable surface to form a polymer that selectively covers the dielectric surface.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein forming a semiconductor substrate includes forming a semiconductor substrate having a second exposed unpolymerizable surface formed of metal.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein forming a semiconductor substrate having an unpolymerizable surface includes forming a copper surface.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein forming a semiconductor substrate having a first exposed dielectric surface includes forming a surface of interlevel dielectric.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein causing polymerization to occur selectively includes surface grafting polymers to the polymerizable surface.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein causing polymerization to occur includes initiating photo induced graft polymerization.

7. The method of claim 6 including coating said substrate with a substance to induce photo surface grafting and polymerization.

8. The method of claim 7 including coating said surface with benzophenone and irradiating using ultraviolet radiation.

9. The method of claim 7 including forming a benzophenone derivative attached to said polymerizable surface through a hydrogen moiety.

10. The method of claim 1 including forming a copper layer over said conductive polymer.

11. A method comprising:

forming a semiconductor substrate having a dielectric surface and an exposed metal surface;

causing polymerization to occur selectively on the dielectric surface while avoiding polymerization on the metal surface to form a polymer that selectively covers the dielectric surface; and

using the polymer to form a copper diffusion barrier.

12. The method of claim 11 including forming a monomer that activates electroless deposition of a copper diffusion barrier.

13. A method comprising:

forming a semiconductor substrate having a dielectric surface and a metallic surface;

causing polymerization to occur selectively on the dielectric surface while avoiding polymerization on the metal surface to form a polymer that selectively covers the dielectric surface; and

forming a copper seed layer using said polymer.

14. The method of claim 13 including forming said polymer using oligomers end-functionalized with vinyl groups.