Method for treating a semiconductor surface to form a metal-containing layer
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- providing a semiconductor substrate having an exposed surface;
treating the exposed surface of the semiconductor substrate by forming one or more metals overlying the semiconductor substrate but not completely covering the exposed surface of the semiconductor substrate, the one or more metals enhancing nucleation for subsequent material growth; and
forming a continuous metal-containing layer on the exposed surface of the semiconductor substrate and over the one or more metals, wherein treatment of the exposed surface of the semiconductor substrate assists the continuous metal-containing layer to coalesce.
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Abstract
A method for treating a semiconductor surface to form a metal-containing layer includes providing a semiconductor substrate having an exposed surface. The exposed surface of the semiconductor substrate is treated by forming one or more metals overlying the semiconductor substrate but not completely covering the exposed surface of the semiconductor substrate. The one or more metals enhance nucleation for subsequent material growth. A metal-containing layer is formed on the exposed surface of the semiconductor substrate that has been treated. The treatment of the exposed surface of the semiconductor substrate assists the metal-containing layer to coalesce. In one embodiment, treatment of the exposed surface to enhance nucleation may be performed by spin-coating, atomic layer deposition (ALD), physical layer deposition (PVD), electroplating, or electroless plating. The one or more metals used to treat the exposed surface may include any rare earth or transition metal, such as, for example, hafnium, lanthanum, etc.
455 Citations
33 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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providing a semiconductor substrate having an exposed surface; treating the exposed surface of the semiconductor substrate by forming one or more metals overlying the semiconductor substrate but not completely covering the exposed surface of the semiconductor substrate, the one or more metals enhancing nucleation for subsequent material growth; and forming a continuous metal-containing layer on the exposed surface of the semiconductor substrate and over the one or more metals, wherein treatment of the exposed surface of the semiconductor substrate assists the continuous metal-containing layer to coalesce. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method comprising:
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providing a semiconductor substrate having an exposed surface; treating the exposed surface of the semiconductor substrate with one or more metals to form a substantially uniform distribution of metal atoms of areal density greater than 1×
1014/cm2 and less than 5×
1015/cm2 on the exposed surface, the one or more metals enhancing nucleation for subsequent material growth; andforming a continuous metal-containing layer on the exposed surface of the semiconductor substrate and over the one or more metals, the one or more metals assisting the continuous metal-containing layer to completely cover the semiconductor substrate within a predetermined amount of formation time. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A method comprising:
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providing a substrate; providing a dielectric layer overlying the substrate; treating an exposed surface of the dielectric layer by forming a plurality of metallic atoms on the exposed surface, the plurality of metallic atoms assisting in subsequent material growth on the dielectric layer, wherein a portion of the dielectric layer remains exposed after the treating; and forming a metal-containing layer overlying the dielectric layer and the plurality of metallic atoms, the metal-containing layer using the plurality of metallic atoms to obtain complete surface coverage with metal of the dielectric layer. - View Dependent Claims (33)
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Specification