# US 11,993,841 B2 · Substrate processing method and substrate processing apparatus

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- Number: US 11,993,841 B2
- Document ID: US11993841B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 16/996,426
- Filed: 2020-08-18
- Published: 2021-02-25
- Granted: 2024-05-28
- Earliest claimed: 2019-08-21
- Assignees: Tokyo Electron Limited
- Applicants: Tokyo Electron Limited
- Inventors: Masato Araki; Kohichi Satoh; Tadahiro Ishizaka; Takashi Sakuma
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11993841B2

## CPC

- C23C 16/405: {of refractory metals or yttrium}
- C23C 16/45561: {Gas plumbing upstream of the reaction chamber}
- C23C 16/16: from metal carbonyl compounds
- C23C 16/45523: {Pulsed gas flow or change of composition over time}
- C23C 16/52: Controlling or regulating the coating process {(C23C16/45557, C23C16/279 take precedence)}
- C23C: COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; SURFACE TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL BY DIFFUSION INTO THE SURFACE, BY CHEMICAL CONVERSION OR SUBSTITUTION; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL (making metal-coated products by extrusion B21C23/22; covering with metal by connecting pre-existing layers to articles, see the relevant places, e.g. B21D39/00, B23K; metallising of glass C03C; metallising mortars, concrete, artificial stone, ceramics or natural stone C04B41/00; enamelling of, or applying a vitreous layer to, metals C23D; treating metal surfaces or coating of metals by electrolysis or electrophoresis C25D; single-crystal film growth C30B; by metallising textiles D06M11/83; decorating textiles by locally metallising D06Q1/04)

## Abstract

There is provided a substrate processing method which includes placing a substrate on a stage provided inside a processing container, and forming a ruthenium film on the substrate, wherein forming the ruthenium film includes repeating a cycle including: supplying a ruthenium-containing gas and a CO gas into the processing container; and stopping the supply of the ruthenium-containing gas and the CO gas into the processing container and exhausting a gas within the processing container.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A substrate processing method comprising:
placing a substrate on a stage provided inside a processing container; and
forming a ruthenium film on the substrate,
wherein forming the ruthenium film comprises repeating a cycle including:
supplying a ruthenium-containing gas and a CO gas into the processing container; and
stopping the supply of the ruthenium-containing gas and the CO gas into the processing container and exhausting a gas within the processing container, and
after performing the repeating the cycle, continuously supplying the ruthenium-containing gas and the CO gas into the processing container, without performing evacuating, for a processing time set such that a thickness of the ruthenium film becomes a desired thickness,
wherein, in the supplying the ruthenium-containing gas and the CO gas of the repeating the cycle, the CO gas is supplied before a timing of starting the supply of the ruthenium-containing gas,
wherein, in the repeating the cycle, a supply time of the ruthenium-containing gas is 25 sec or more and 200 sec or less or a purge time of the exhausting the gas within the processing container is 5 sec or more and 60 sec or less, so as to increase smoothness of the ruthenium film,
wherein, in the forming the ruthenium film, a temperature of the substrate is 130 to 250 degrees C., a pressure is 5 to 200 mTorr, a flow rate of the CO gas is 50 to 300 sccm, and a gap between the stage and a gas ejection mechanism is 50 to 60 mm, and
wherein the ruthenium-containing gas is Ru3(CO)12.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The substrate processing method of claim 1, wherein, in the supplying the ruthenium-containing gas and the CO gas of the repeating the cycle, the supply of the CO gas is stopped after a timing of stopping the supply of the ruthenium-containing gas.