Cap layer and anneal for gapfill improvement
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorsDe-Wei Yu, Chien-Hao Chen
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Abstract
Embodiments disclosed herein relate generally to forming a gate layer in high aspect ratio trenches using a cyclic deposition-etch process. In an embodiment, a method for semiconductor processing is provided. The method includes performing a cyclic deposition-etch process to form a conformal film over a bottom surface and along sidewall surfaces of a feature on a substrate. The method includes forming a dielectric cap layer on the conformal film. The method includes performing an anneal process on the conformal film.
Claims20
A method for semiconductor processing, the method comprising:
- forming a first fin and a second fin protruding from a substrate, the first fin and the second fin forming a trench between the first fin and the second fin;
- forming a first film over a bottom surface and sidewalls of the trench;
- performing a cyclic etch-dep process to form a second film over the first film, wherein a combined thickness of the first film and the second film is greater than half of a distance between the first fin and the second fin;
- forming a dielectric cap layer on the second film;
- after forming the dielectric cap layer, performing an anneal process on the second film;
- and
- removing the dielectric cap layer, thereby exposing the second film.
A method for semiconductor processing, the method comprising:
- forming a trench, the trench having a first sidewall, a second sidewall, and a bottom surface extending between the first sidewall and the second sidewall;
- forming a material layer in the trench, wherein forming the material layer comprises:
- forming a first sub-layer in the trench, the first sub-layer comprising a first material;
- and
- forming one or more second sub-layers over the trench, wherein forming each of the second sub-layers comprises:
- removing a portion of the first material along an upper region of the trench;
- and
- after removing the portion, depositing another layer of the first material in the trench;
- forming a cap layer over the material layer in the trench;
- annealing the cap layer and the material layer;
- and
- removing the cap layer, wherein removing the cap layer exposes the material layer in the trench.
A method for semiconductor processing, the method comprising:
- forming a first protrusion and a second protrusion on a substrate, sidewalls of the first protrusion and the second protrusion forming sidewalls of a trench;
- forming a material layer over the sidewalls of the first protrusion and the second protrusion and a bottom of the trench, wherein forming the material layer comprises:
- forming a bottom material layer, the bottom material layer comprising a first material;
- forming one or more middle material layers, wherein forming each of the one or more middle material layers comprises:
- etching the first material along an upper portion of the sidewalls of the trench;
- and
- depositing a middle material layer in the trench, the middle material layer comprising the first material;
- forming a cap layer over the one or more middle material layers;
- annealing the bottom material layer and the one or more middle material layers;
- removing the cap layer;
- and
- forming an uppermost material layer directly on the one or more middle material layers, the uppermost material layer comprising the first material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.