Device isolation technology on semiconductor substrate
First Claim
1. A method of forming a conformal and/or gap-filling insulative layer on a semiconductor substrate having at least one trench, comprising:
- providing a silicon-containing gas, a nitrogen-containing gas, and a carbon-containing gas as a process gas, said process gas being capable of filling the trench by forming a flowable, insulative material by plasma reaction at first flow rates of the silicon-containing gas, the nitrogen-containing gas, and the carbon-containing gas;
decreasing a ratio of the first flow rate of the carbon-containing gas to the first flow rate of the silicon-containing gas and/or a ratio of the first flow rate of the carbon-containing gas to the first flow rate of the nitrogen-containing gas;
forming a conformal/flowable, insulative material by plasma reaction at the decreased flow rate(s), thereby forming a conformal coating in the trench as a result of the step of decreasing the ratio(s); and
multi-step post deposition treatment after the step of forming the conformal/flowable, insulative material, said multi-step post deposition treatment comprising heating the substrate including the conformal coating in the presence of oxygen, irradiating the heated substrate with UV light in the presence of oxygen, and annealing the UV irradiated substrate, thereby removing carbon from the conformal coating as a result of the multi-step post deposition treatment.
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Abstract
A method of forming device isolation regions on a trench-formed silicon substrate and removing residual carbon therefrom includes providing a flowable, insulative material constituted by silicon, carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen or any combination of two or more thereof; forming a thin insulative layer, by using the flowable, insulative material, in a trench located on a semiconductor substrate wherein the flowable, insulative material forms a conformal coating in a silicon and nitrogen rich condition whereas in a carbon rich condition, the flowable, insulative material vertically grows from the bottom of the trenches; and removing the residual carbon deposits from the flowable, insulative material by multi-step curing, such as O2 thermal annealing, ozone UV curing followed by N2 thermal annealing.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method of forming a conformal and/or gap-filling insulative layer on a semiconductor substrate having at least one trench, comprising:
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providing a silicon-containing gas, a nitrogen-containing gas, and a carbon-containing gas as a process gas, said process gas being capable of filling the trench by forming a flowable, insulative material by plasma reaction at first flow rates of the silicon-containing gas, the nitrogen-containing gas, and the carbon-containing gas; decreasing a ratio of the first flow rate of the carbon-containing gas to the first flow rate of the silicon-containing gas and/or a ratio of the first flow rate of the carbon-containing gas to the first flow rate of the nitrogen-containing gas; forming a conformal/flowable, insulative material by plasma reaction at the decreased flow rate(s), thereby forming a conformal coating in the trench as a result of the step of decreasing the ratio(s); and multi-step post deposition treatment after the step of forming the conformal/flowable, insulative material, said multi-step post deposition treatment comprising heating the substrate including the conformal coating in the presence of oxygen, irradiating the heated substrate with UV light in the presence of oxygen, and annealing the UV irradiated substrate, thereby removing carbon from the conformal coating as a result of the multi-step post deposition treatment. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of forming a conformal and/or gap-filling insulative layer on a semiconductor substrate having at least one trench, comprising:
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forming a conformal/flowable, insulative material in the trench by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition, chemical vapor deposition, or spin-on; and conducting multi-step post deposition treatment comprising heating the substrate in the presence of oxygen, wherein the oxygen-containing treatment comprises exposing the substrate to nitrogen/oxygen, hydrogen/oxygen, or H2O/oxygen steam at temperature of about 100°
C. to about 400°
C., irradiating the heated substrate with UV light in the presence of oxygen, and annealing the UV irradiated substrate, wherein the UV irradiation comprises irradiating the substrate with UV light having a wavelength of about 130 nm to about 400 nm at a temperature of about 0°
C. to about 500°
C., thereby removing carbon from the conformal/flowable material as a result of the multi-step post deposition treatment. - View Dependent Claims (16)
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Specification