Method for ion implanting insulator material to reduce dielectric constant
First Claim
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1. A method of forming a low dielectric constant insulating film on a workpiece, comprising:
- forming a dielectric layer on said workpiece; and
ion implanting a gaseous species into said dielectric layer so as to form gas bubbles in said dielectric layer;
regulating the average diameter of said gas bubbles by regulating the energy of the ions of said gaseous species during the step of ion implanting.
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Abstract
An integrated microelectronic circuit has a multi-layer interconnect structure overlying the transistors consisting of stacked metal pattern layers and insulating layers separating adjacent ones of said metal pattern layers. Each of the insulating layers is a dielectric material with plural gas bubbles distributed within the volume of the dielectric material to reduce the dielectric constant of the material, the gas bubbles being formed by ion implantation of a gaseous species into the dielectric material.
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Citations
38 Claims
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1. A method of forming a low dielectric constant insulating film on a workpiece, comprising:
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forming a dielectric layer on said workpiece; and
ion implanting a gaseous species into said dielectric layer so as to form gas bubbles in said dielectric layer;regulating the average diameter of said gas bubbles by regulating the energy of the ions of said gaseous species during the step of ion implanting. - View Dependent Claims (17, 37, 38)
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2. A method of forming a low dielectric constant insulating film on a workpiece, comprising:
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forming a dielectric layer on said workpiece; and ion implanting a gaseous species into said dielectric layer so as to form gas bubbles in said dielectric layer; regulating the average diameter of said gas bubbles by regulating the temperature of said workpiece during the ion implanting step. - View Dependent Claims (23)
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3. A method of forming a low dielectric constant insulating film on a workpiece, comprising:
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forming a dielectric layer on said workpiece; and ion implanting a gaseous species into said dielectric layer so as to form gas bubbles in said dielectric layer; regulating the average diameter of said bubbles by regulating the ion implantation dose of the ion implantation step.
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4. A method of forming a low dielectric constant insulating film on a workpiece, comprising:
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forming a dielectric layer on said workpiece; and ion implanting a gaseous species into said dielectric layer so as to form gas bubbles in said dielectric layer; regulating the average diameter of said bubbles by ion implanting a bubble-enhancing species. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6)
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7. A method of forming a low dielectric constant insulating film on a workpiece, comprising:
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forming a dielectric layer on said workpiece; and ion implanting a gaseous species into said dielectric layer so as to form gas bubbles in said dielectric layer; causing the gas in said bubbles to evolve from said bubbles so that each bubble contains a vacuum. - View Dependent Claims (8)
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9. A method of forming a low dielectric constant insulating film on a workpiece, comprising:
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forming a dielectric layer on said workpiece; ion implanting a gaseous species into said dielectric layer so as to form gas bubbles in said dielectric layer wherein the step of ion implanting comprises; placing said workpiece in a vacuum chamber having at least one external reentrant conduit; introducing a process gas comprising a precursor of the gaseous species to be ion implanted; and coupling RF power to process gases in said reentrant conduit to generate an oscillating plasma current in a torroidal path that includes said reentrant conduit and a process zone adjacent the surface of the workpiece. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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24. A method of forming a thin film on a semiconductor structure with enhanced adhesion, comprising:
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depositing an overlying dielectric film on an underlying layer of a semiconductor structure; and performing plasma immersion ion implantation on said semiconductor structure to form a boundary layer at the interface between the dielectric film and the underlying layer containing atoms from both said dielectric layer and said underlying layer.
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25. A method of forming a porous dielectric film of a semiconductor structure with enhanced hardness of the porous dielectric film, comprising:
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depositing an overlying porous dielectric film on an underlying layer of a semiconductor structure; and performing plasma immersion ion implantation of a gaseous species on said semiconductor structure to fill pores of said porous film with gas.
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26. A method of forming a porous dielectric film on a semiconductor structure having reduced tensile stress, comprising:
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depositing an overlying porous dielectric film on an underlying layer of a semiconductor structure; and performing plasma immersion ion implantation on said semiconductor structure to break atomic bonds within said porous film.
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27. A method of forming a porous dielectric film on an underlying layer of a semiconductor structure having enhanced adhesion with the underlying layer, reduced tensile stress and enhanced hardness, comprising:
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depositing an overlying porous dielectric film on an underlying layer of a semiconductor structure; and performing plasma immersion ion implantation on said semiconductor structure of a gaseous species to break atomic bonds within said porous film, to form a boundary layer at the interface between the dielectric film and the underlying layer containing atoms from both said dielectric layer and said underlying layer, and to fill pores of said porous film with gas.
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28. A method of forming a dielectric film on an underlying layer of a semiconductor structure having reduced dielectric constant, reduced tensile stress and enhanced hardness, comprising:
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depositing an overlying dielectric film on an underlying layer of a semiconductor structure, and doping the dielectric film with a first species that reduces the dielectric constant of the dielectric film; and increasing the hardness of said dielectric film by ion implanting a second species into said dielectric film. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A method of forming a dielectric film on an underlying layer of a semiconductor structure having reduced dielectric constant, reduced tensile stress and enhanced hardness, comprising:
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depositing an overlying dielectric film on an underlying layer of a semiconductor structure; and decreasing the dielectric constant of said dielectric film by ion implanting a first species into said dielectric film so as to dope said dielectric film with said first species, while simultaneously enhancing the hardness of the doped dielectric film by ion implanting a second species into said dielectric film. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36)
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Specification