Seamless gap fill
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorsYen-Chun Huang, Bor Chiuan Hsieh, Pei-Ren Jeng, Tai-Chun Huang, Tze-Liang Lee
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Abstract
A method includes depositing a first dielectric layer in an opening, the first dielectric layer comprising a semiconductor element and a non-semiconductor element. The method further includes depositing a semiconductor layer on the first dielectric layer, the semiconductor layer comprising a first element that is the same as the semiconductor element. The method further includes introducing a second element to the semiconductor layer wherein the second element is the same as the non-semiconductor element. The method further includes applying a thermal annealing process to the semiconductor layer to change the semiconductor layer into a second dielectric layer.
Claims20
A method comprising:
- forming a trench in a material layer;
- forming a first dielectric layer in the trench;
- forming a semiconductor layer on the first dielectric layer within the trench;
- implanting a dopant into the semiconductor layer disposed within the trench, wherein the semiconductor layer disposed within the trench defines a gap within the trench after the implanting of the dopant;
- and
- applying a thermal annealing process to the semiconductor layer to change the semiconductor layer into a second dielectric layer, wherein the thermal annealing process causes the second dielectric layer to fill the gap,
- wherein the first dielectric layer is formed of a semiconductor element and a non-semiconductor element,
- wherein the second dielectric layer is formed of the semiconductor element and the non-semiconductor element, and
- wherein a concentration of the non-semiconductor element is greater in the first dielectric layer than the second dielectric layer.
A method comprising:
- forming a trench within a material layer;
- forming a first silicon-containing layer within the trench, the first silicon-containing layer having a first composition;
- forming a second silicon-containing layer on the first silicon-containing layer within the trench, the second silicon-containing layer having a second composition that is different than the first composition;
- introducing a dopant into the second silicon-containing layer, the dopant selected from the group consisting of oxygen and nitrogen;
- and
- applying a thermal annealing process to the second silicon-containing layer having the dopant, wherein the thermal annealing process causes the second silicon-containing layer to fill previously unoccupied space of the trench.
A method comprising:
- forming an opening having a greater depth than width within a material layer;
- forming a first dielectric layer within the opening, the first dielectric layer including a first semiconductor element and a non-semiconductor element;
- forming a semiconductor layer on the first dielectric layer within the opening, the semiconductor layer including the first semiconductor element;
- introducing the non-semiconductor element into the semiconductor layer;
- and
- annealing the semiconductor layer to change the semiconductor layer into a second dielectric layer, wherein a concentration of the non-semiconductor material in the second dielectric layer is highest in the center of the second dielectric layer after the annealing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.