Pulsed plasma for film deposition

• US 10,096,466 B2
• Filed: 03/17/2016
• Issued: 10/09/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/17/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Applied Materials Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Applied Materials Incorporated
• Inventors: Xue, Jun, Godet, Ludovic, Nemani, Srinivas, Stowell, Michael W., Liang, Qiwei, Buchberger, Douglas A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Garber, Charles
• Assistant Examiner(s): MUSTAPHA, ABDULFATTAH B
• Application Number:
  US15/073,444
• Publication Number:
  US 20160276150A1
• Time in Patent Office: 936 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/0217 the material being a silicon nitride not containing oxygen, e.g. SixNy or SixByNz H01L21/02126 and H01L21/0214 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/02274 in the presence of a plasma [PECVD]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/02329 introduction of nitrogen
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/0234 treatment by exposure to a plasma
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/76826 by contacting the layer with gases, liquids or plasmas
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/76829 characterised by the formation of thin functional dielectric layers, e.g. dielectric etch-stop, barrier, capping or liner layers
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/76831 in via holes or trenches, e.g. non-conductive sidewall liners

Abstract

Methods of processing a substrate are provided herein. In some embodiments, a method of processing a substrate disposed in a processing chamber includes: (a) depositing a layer of material on a substrate by exposing the substrate to a first reactive species generated from a remote plasma source and to a first precursor, wherein the first reactive species reacts with the first precursor; and (b) treating all, or substantially all, of the deposited layer of material by exposing the substrate to a plasma generated within the processing chamber from a second plasma source; wherein at least one of the remote plasma source or the second plasma source is pulsed to control periods of depositing and periods of treating.

Claims

1. A method of processing a substrate disposed in a processing chamber, comprising:

(a) depositing a layer of dielectric material on a substrate by exposing the substrate to a first reactive species generated from a remote plasma source and to a first precursor, wherein the first reactive species reacts with the first precursor; and

(b) treating all, or substantially all, of the deposited layer of dielectric material by breaking at least one chemical bond within the deposited layer of dielectric material by exposing the substrate to a plasma generated within the processing chamber from a second plasma source, wherein at least the remote plasma source is pulsed at least once to control periods of depositing.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

(c) repeating (a) and (b) until a predetermined thickness of the layer of material is deposited and treated on the substrate.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the second plasma source is coupled to a substrate support pedestal within the processing chamber.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the remote plasma source is operated in a continuous wave (CW) mode for a first interval to deposit the layer of material and wherein the second plasma source is pulsed during the first interval to treat the deposited layer of dielectric material while depositing an additional layer of dielectric material.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the remote plasma source is operated in a continuous wave (CW) mode for a first interval to deposit the layer of dielectric material and turned off for a second interval following the first interval, wherein the second plasma source is off for a first interval and pulsed during the second interval to treat the deposited layer of dielectric material.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the remote plasma source is pulsed for a first interval to deposit the layer of dielectric material and the second plasma source is operated in a continuous wave (CW) mode during the first interval to continuously treat the deposited layer of dielectric material.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the remote plasma source and the second plasma source are both pulsed.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the remote plasma source and the second plasma source are pulsed in phase such that the remote plasma source and the second plasma source are simultaneously on during a first interval and simultaneously off during a second interval to simultaneously deposit the layer of dielectric material and treat the deposited layer of dielectric material.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the remote plasma source and the second plasma source are pulsed out of phase such that when the remote plasma source is on the second plasma source is off and when the remote plasma source is off the second plasma source is on to deposit the layer of dielectric material and then subsequently treat the deposited layer of dielectric material without depositing additional layers of the dielectric material.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the remote plasma source and the second plasma source are pulsed out of phase for a first interval such that when the remote plasma source is on the second plasma source is off and when the remote plasma source is off the second plasma source is on and are pulsed in phase for a second interval such that when the remote plasma source is on the second plasma source is on and when the remote plasma source is off the second plasma source is off.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the remote plasma source and the second plasma source are pulsed in phase for a first interval such that when the remote plasma source is on the second plasma source is on and when the remote plasma source is off the second plasma source is off and are pulsed out of phase for a second interval such that when the remote plasma source is on the second plasma source is off and when the remote plasma source is off the second plasma source is on to deposit and treat a layer of the dielectric material.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein the remote plasma source is pulsed on for a first interval and pulsed off for a second interval and the second plasma source is pulsed on and off multiple times during the first interval and is off during the second interval.

13. The method of claim 7, wherein the remote plasma source is pulsed on for a first interval and pulsed off for a second interval and wherein the second plasma source is pulsed on a predetermined time after the first interval and during the second interval.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the remote plasma source and the second plasma source are coupled to a RF power source, DC power source, or a microwave power source.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the deposited layer of dielectric material is one of silicon carbide (SiC), silicon nitride (SiN), silicon oxide (SiO), silicon oxynitride (SiON), silicon oxycarbide (SiOC), or metal oxide.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the plasma generated within the processing chamber is formed from a second process gas comprising helium (He), argon (Ar), neon (Ne), krypton (Kr), nitrogen (N₂), ammonia (NH₃), or any combination thereof.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein pulsing the remote plasma source and the second plasma source is controlled by adjusting a pulse frequency, or a duty cycle, or a power applied to the remote plasma source or the second plasma source.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein a temperature of a substrate support pedestal within the processing chamber is controlled from about −

150 degrees Celsius to about 500 degrees Celsius.

21. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

processing the substrate within a thermal budget of less than about 450 degrees Celsius.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein the layer of material remains at least partially flowable after deposition or during treatment.

19. A method of depositing a material on a substrate disposed atop a substrate support pedestal in a process chamber, comprising:

(a) depositing a layer of dielectric material on a substrate by exposing the substrate to a first reactive species generated from a remote plasma source and to a first precursor, wherein the first reactive species reacts with the first precursor;

(b) treating all, or substantially all, of the deposited layer of dielectric material by breaking at least one chemical bond within the deposited layer of dielectric material by exposing the substrate to a plasma generated within the processing chamber from a second plasma source;

wherein the remote plasma source is pulsed for a first interval and the second plasma source is pulsed for a second interval concurrent with the first interval; and

(c) repeating (a) and (b) until a predetermined thickness of the dielectric material is deposited and treated on the substrate, wherein a temperature of the substrate support pedestal during (a)-(c) is controlled from about −

150 degrees Celsius to about 500 degrees Celsius.

23. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

processing the substrate within a wet etch rate ratio of less than about 2.

24. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

processing the substrate with a film shrinkage of less than about 10%.

20. A non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a method for processing a substrate disposed atop a substrate support pedestal in a processing chamber to be performed, the method comprising:

(a) depositing a layer of dielectric material on a substrate by exposing the substrate to a first reactive species generated from a remote plasma source and to a first precursor, wherein the first reactive species reacts with the first precursor;

(b) treating all, or substantially all, of the deposited layer of dielectric material by breaking at least one chemical bond within the deposited layer of dielectric material by exposing the substrate to a plasma generated within the processing chamber from a second plasma source;

wherein at least the remote plasma source is pulsed at least once to control periods of depositing; and

(c) repeating (a) and (b) until a predetermined thickness of the dielectric material is deposited and treated on the substrate, wherein a temperature of the substrate support pedestal during (a)-(c) is controlled from about −

150 degrees Celsius to about 500 degrees Celsius.