Modulated ion-induced atomic layer deposition (MII-ALD)
First Claim
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1. A method for depositing an elemental film onto a substrate in a chamber comprising:
- introducing a reactant gas into the chamber, the reactant gas forming a layer of adsorbed reactant on the substrate;
introducing at least one ion generating feed gas into the chamber;
generating a plasma from the ion generating feed gas to form ions, wherein during generation of the plasma, a position of the substrate and a position of the plasma do not change relative to one another;
exposing the substrate to the ions;
varying a bias applied to the substrate to modulate the ions between a low energy state and a high energy state, wherein ions at the low energy state have insufficient energy to induce surface deposition reactions with the layer of adsorbed reactant and wherein ions at the high energy state have sufficient energy to induce surface deposition reactions with the layer of adsorbed reactant, wherein the bias applied to the substrate is varied to cause the depositing, while the plasma is generated continuously and the substrate is continuously exposed to the ions; and
reacting the layer of adsorbed reactant with the ions at the high energy state to form the elemental film.
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Abstract
The present invention relates to a cyclic deposition process suitable for depositing an elemental film. The process employs an enhanced atomic layer deposition technique.
105 Citations
27 Claims
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1. A method for depositing an elemental film onto a substrate in a chamber comprising:
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introducing a reactant gas into the chamber, the reactant gas forming a layer of adsorbed reactant on the substrate; introducing at least one ion generating feed gas into the chamber; generating a plasma from the ion generating feed gas to form ions, wherein during generation of the plasma, a position of the substrate and a position of the plasma do not change relative to one another; exposing the substrate to the ions; varying a bias applied to the substrate to modulate the ions between a low energy state and a high energy state, wherein ions at the low energy state have insufficient energy to induce surface deposition reactions with the layer of adsorbed reactant and wherein ions at the high energy state have sufficient energy to induce surface deposition reactions with the layer of adsorbed reactant, wherein the bias applied to the substrate is varied to cause the depositing, while the plasma is generated continuously and the substrate is continuously exposed to the ions; and reacting the layer of adsorbed reactant with the ions at the high energy state to form the elemental film. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method for depositing an elemental film onto a substrate in a chamber comprising:
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introducing a reactant gas into the chamber, the reactant gas forming a layer of adsorbed reactant on the substrate; introducing at least one ion generating feed gas into the chamber; introducing at least one radical generating feed gas into the chamber; generating a plasma from the ion generating feed gas and a plasma from the radical generating feed gas to form ions and radicals, wherein during generation of the plasma from the ion generating feed gas and the plasma from the ion generating feed gas, a position of the substrate does not change relative to a position of the plasma from the ion generating feed gas or relative to a position of the plasma from the radical generating feed gas; exposing the substrate to the ions and radicals; varying a bias applied to the substrate to modulate the ions between a low energy state and a high energy state, wherein ions at the low energy state have insufficient energy to induce surface deposition reactions with the layer of adsorbed reactant and wherein ions at the high energy state have sufficient energy to induce surface deposition reactions with the layer of adsorbed reactant, wherein the bias applied to the substrate is varied to cause the depositing, while the plasma is generated continuously and the substrate is continuously exposed to the ions; and reacting the layer of adsorbed reactant with the ions at the high energy state and with radicals to form the elemental film, wherein the radicals are not incorporated into the film. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A method for forming an elemental film on a substrate comprising:
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introducing a reactant gas into a chamber, the reactant gas forming a layer of adsorbed reactant on the substrate; introducing at least one ion generating feed gas into the chamber; generating a plasma from the ion generating feed gas to form ions, wherein during generation of the plasma, a position of the substrate and a position of the plasma do not change relative to one another; exposing the substrate to the ions; varying a bias applied to the substrate to modulate the ions between a low energy state and a high energy state, wherein ions at the low energy state have insufficient energy to induce surface deposition reactions with the layer of adsorbed reactant, and wherein ions at the high energy state have sufficient energy to induce surface deposition reactions with the layer of adsorbed reactant, wherein the bias applied to the substrate is varied to cause the depositing, while the plasma is generated continuously and the substrate is continuously exposed to the ions; and reacting the layer of adsorbed reactant with the ions at the high energy state to form the elemental film on the substrate without first having formed an intermediate film on the substrate of a composition different than that of the layer of adsorbed reactant.
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Specification