Elimination of flow and pressure gradients in low utilization processes
First Claim
1. A method, comprising:
- flowing a gas into a chamber;
stopping the gas flowing into the chamber; and
performing a low species utilization process within the chamber after minimizing pressure and flow gradients within the chamber, the low species utilization process comprising;
striking a plasma at a first voltage;
applying a floating voltage to a substrate holder; and
diffusing an amount of atoms into a substrate in an approximate range of 1×
e14 atoms/cm2 and 1×
e16 atoms/cm2 while striking the plasma, wherein no gas flows into the chamber while performing the low species utilization process and a difference in voltage of the first voltage and the floating voltage drives the diffusing of the atoms into the substrate.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The amount of atoms diffused into a substrate may be made uniform or the thickness of a thin film may be made uniform in a low species utilization process by stopping the flow of gas into a reaction chamber during the low species utilization process. Stopping the flow of gas into a reaction chamber may entail closing the gate valve (the valve to the vacuum pump), stabilizing the pressure within the reaction chamber, and maintaining the stabilized pressure while stopping the gas flowing into the chamber. Low species utilization processes include the diffusion of nitrogen into silicon dioxide gate dielectric layers by decoupled plasma nitridation (DPN), the deposition of a silicon dioxide film by rapid thermal processing (RTP) or chemical vapor deposition (CVD), and the deposition of silicon epitaxial layers by CVD.
255 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A method, comprising:
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flowing a gas into a chamber; stopping the gas flowing into the chamber; and performing a low species utilization process within the chamber after minimizing pressure and flow gradients within the chamber, the low species utilization process comprising; striking a plasma at a first voltage; applying a floating voltage to a substrate holder; and diffusing an amount of atoms into a substrate in an approximate range of 1×
e14 atoms/cm2 and 1×
e16 atoms/cm2 while striking the plasma, wherein no gas flows into the chamber while performing the low species utilization process and a difference in voltage of the first voltage and the floating voltage drives the diffusing of the atoms into the substrate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A method, comprising:
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flowing a gas into a plasma chamber; stopping the gas flowing into the plasma chamber; striking a plasma including the gas at a first voltage above a substrate after stopping the gas flowing into the plasma chamber; applying a floating voltage to a substrate holder; and diffusing nitrogen into the substrate while striking the plasma; wherein no gas flows into the chamber and no gas is pumped out of the plasma chamber while striking the plasma, and a difference in voltage of the first voltage and floating voltage drives the diffusing of the nitrogen into the substrate. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method, comprising:
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flowing a nitrogen gas into a decoupled plasma nitridation chamber, the decoupled plasma nitridation chamber having an internal pressure; closing the gate valve of the decoupled plasma nitridation chamber; stabilizing the internal pressure of the decoupled plasma nitridation chamber to obtain a stabile pressure; maintaining the stable pressure within the decoupled plasma nitridation chamber while stopping the gas flowing into the decoupled plasma nitridation chamber; and striking a plasma at a first voltage above a substrate after stopping the nitrogen gas flowing into the chamber and after stabilizing the internal pressure of the chamber; applying a floating voltage to a substrate holder; and diffusing nitrogen into the substrate while striking the plasma; wherein no gas flows into the decoupled plasma nitridation chamber and no gas is pumped out of the decoupled plasma nitridation chamber while striking the plasma, and a difference in voltage of the first voltage and the floating voltage drives the diffusing of the nitrogen into the substrate. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification