Apparatus and a method for forming an alloy layer over a substrate

• US 6,957,624 B2
• Filed: 07/28/2003
• Issued: 10/25/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Gavish, Ilan
• Primary Examiner(s): Hassanzadeh, Parviz
• Application Number:
  US10/628,949
• Publication Number:
  US 20040016403A1
• Time in Patent Office: 820 Days
• Field of Search: 118/723.FI, 118/723.CB, 118/641, 118/724, 118/642, 118/620, 118/695, 156/345.5
• US Class Current: 118/723.0FI
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/047 using irradiation by energy or particles
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/06 characterised by the deposition of metallic material
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/16 from metal carbonyl compounds
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/486 using ion beam radiation
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/56 After-treatment
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/2855 by physical means, e.g. sputtering, evaporation H01L21/28518 - H01L21/28537 and H01L21/28568 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/28556 by chemical means, e.g. CVD, LPCVD, PECVD, laser CVD H01L21/28518 - H01L21/28537 and H01L21/28568 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/32051 Deposition of metallic or metal-silicide layers
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/76838 characterised by the formation and the after-treatment of the conductors etching for patterning the conductors H01L21/3213
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/76886 Modifying permanently or temporarily the pattern or the conductivity of conductive members, e.g. formation of alloys, reduction of contact resistances

Abstract

One embodiment of the invention involves introducing at least two metals into a chamber for forming an alloy layer over a substrate. This is accomplished by a variety of methods. In one embodiment, at least two metals are mixed and introduced into a chamber in which a focused ion beam contacts the two metals to form at least one alloy layer over a substrate. In another embodiment, at least two precursor gas sources are introduced into the chamber in which each precursor gas source contains a metal. The focused ion beam contacts the two precursor gases to form an alloy layer over the substrate. In yet another embodiment, a second metal layer is formed over a first metal layer to form a multi-metal layer. Thereafter, thermal treatment or introducing a focused ion beam to at least a portion of the multi-metal layer is performed to create at least one alloy layer over the substrate.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a chamber configured to house a substrate for processing;

an energy source coupled to the chamber;

a system controller configured to control the introduction of at least two metal constituents to a focused ion beam and to control the introduction of the focused ion beam; and

a memory coupled to the controller comprising a computer-readable medium having a computer-readable program embodied therein for directing operation of the system, the computer-readable program comprising;

instructions for controlling the energy source and for introducing the metal constituents by mixing the at least two metal constituents and introducing the at least two metal constituents into a chamber in which a focused ion beam contacts the at least two metal constituents to form a first alloy layer over a substrate.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the program further comprises instructions for controlling the introduction of each of the at least two metal constituents selected from the group consisting of cobalt, metal carbonyl, molybdenum and tungsten.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the program further comprises instructions for forming more than one alloy layer, wherein a second alloy layer is formed over the first alloy layer.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the second alloy layer is created from a second multi-metal layer which is exposed to an alloy process.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the alloy process involves the second multi-metal layer exposed to one of a thermal treatment and to a focused ion beam.

6. A system comprising:

a chamber configured to house a substrate for processing;

an energy source coupled to the chamber;

a system controller configured to control the introduction of at least two metal constituents to a focused ion beam and to control the introduction of the focused ion beam; and

a memory coupled to the controller comprising a computer-readable medium having a computer-readable program embodied therein for directing operation of the system, the computer-readable program comprising;

instructions for controlling the energy source and for introducing the metal constituents by introducing at about the same time at least two precursor gas sources in which each precursor gas source contains a respective one of the at least two metal constituents and the focused ion beam contacts the at least two precursor gases to form a first alloy layer over a substrate.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein each of the at least two metal constituents is selected from the group consisting of cobalt, metal carbonyl, molybdenum and tungsten.

8. The system of claim 7, further comprising:

forming more than one alloy layer, wherein a second alloy layer is formed over the first alloy layer.

9. A system comprising:

a chamber configured to house a substrate for processing;

an energy source coupled to the chamber;

a system controller configured to control the introduction of at least two metal constituents to a focused ion beam and to control the introduction of the focused ion beam; and

a memory coupled to the controller comprising a computer-readable medium having a computer-readable program embodied therein for directing operation of the system, the computer-readable program comprising;

instructions for controlling the energy source and for introducing the metal constituents by forming a first layer of a first of the at least two metal constituents and a second layer of a second of the at least two metal constituents to create a multi-metal layer and performing one of thermal treatment and introducing focused ion beam to at least a portion of the multi-metal layer to form a first alloy layer over a substrate.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein each of the at least two metal constituents is selected from the group consisting of cobalt, metal carbonyl, molybdenum and tungsten.

11. The system of claim 10, further comprising:

forming more than one alloy layer, wherein a second alloy layer is formed over the first alloy layer.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the second alloy layer is created from a second multi-metal layer which is exposed to an alloy process that involves the second multi-metal layer exposed to one of a thermal treatment and to a focused ion beam.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein the instructions for forming a first and second layer include instructions to heat the first and second layer sufficiently to re-crystallize a metal component of the at least one metal formed in the at least one of the first layer and the second layer.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the instructions for forming a first and second layer include instructions for controlling one of a laser, a continuous wave laser, a pulsed laser, and an argon laser to heat at least one of the first layer and the second layer.