# US 12,191,143 B2 · Semiconductor device and method for forming the same

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- Number: US 12,191,143 B2
- Document ID: US12191143B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/313,379
- Filed: 2021-05-06
- Published: 2022-07-28
- Granted: 2025-01-07
- Earliest claimed: 2021-01-28
- Assignees: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.; National Taiwan University
- Applicants: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.; National Taiwan University
- Inventors: Jian-Zhi Huang; Yun-Hsuan Hsu; I-Chih Ni; Chih-I Wu
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12191143B2

## CPC

- H10P 14/6336: {in the presence of a plasma [PECVD]}
- H10P 70/27: {during, before or after processing of conductive materials, e.g. polysilicon or amorphous silicon layers}
- C23C 16/0236: {by etching with a reactive gas}
- C23C 16/0245: {by etching with a plasma}
- C23C 16/26: Deposition of carbon only
- C23C 16/4412: {Details relating to the exhausts, e.g. pumps, filters, scrubbers, particle traps}
- C23C 16/46: characterised by the method used for heating the substrate (C23C16/48, C23C16/50 take precedence)
- C23C 16/507: using external electrodes, e.g. in tunnel type reactors
- H01J 37/321: {the radio frequency energy being inductively coupled to the plasma}
- H10D 62/882: {Graphene}
- H10P 14/24: using chemical vapour deposition [CVD]
- H10P 14/3241: {being conductive materials}
- H10P 14/3406: {Carbon, e.g. diamond-like carbon}
- H10P 14/36: {characterised by treatments done before the formation of the materials}
- H10P 14/43: Chemical deposition, e.g. chemical vapour deposition [CVD]
- H10P 14/6319: {Formation by plasma treatments, e.g. plasma oxidation of the substrate}
- H10P 52/403: {of conductive or resistive materials}
- H10W 20/035: {combinations of barrier, adhesion or liner layers, e.g. multi-layered barrier layers}
- H10W 20/037: {the barrier, adhesion or liner layers being on top of a main fill metal}
- H10W 20/425: {Barrier, adhesion or liner layers}
- H10D 30/027: {of lateral single-gate IGFETs}
- H10D 30/60: Insulated-gate field-effect transistors [IGFET] (H10D30/40 takes precedence)
- H10P: GENERIC PROCESSES OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10
- 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)
- H01J: ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS (spark-gaps H01T; electric arc lamps H05B31/00; particle accelerators H05H)
- H10D: INORGANIC ELECTRIC SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES
- H10W: GENERIC PACKAGES, INTERCONNECTIONS, CONNECTORS OR OTHER CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10

## Abstract

A plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) method includes loading a wafer having a magnetic layer thereon into a processing chamber equipped with a radio frequency (RF) system, introducing an aromatic hydrocarbon precursor into the processing chamber, and turning on an RF source of the RF system to decompose the aromatic hydrocarbon precursor into active radicals at a frequency greater than about 1000 Hz to form a graphene layer over the magnetic layer.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) method, comprising:
loading a wafer having a magnetic layer thereon into a processing chamber equipped with a radio frequency (RF) system, the RF system connected to an inductive coil winding in a multiple-turn cylindrical configuration around a portion of the processing chamber, the inductive coil surpassing a length of the wafer in an axial extension direction of the inductive coil, wherein loading the wafer is performed such that the wafer is within the portion of the processing chamber wound by the inductive coil, and the inductive coil directly surrounds the wafer, the wafer has a substrate, a first dielectric layer over the substrate, a metal contact in the first dielectric layer, and a second dielectric layer over the metal contact and having a trench exposing the metal contact, and the magnetic layer is conformally formed over the second dielectric layer and the metal contact exposed from the trench of the second dielectric layer;
introducing an aromatic hydrocarbon precursor into the processing chamber; and
turning on an RF source of the RF system to decompose the aromatic hydrocarbon precursor into active radicals at a frequency greater than about 1000 Hz to form a graphene layer over the magnetic layer, wherein turning on the RF source of the RF system heats the magnetic layer.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the frequency of the RF source is greater than about 300 kHz.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the magnetic layer comprises at least one of cobalt, nickel, or iron.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the magnetic layer has a permeability coefficient greater than about 5×10−5 (H/m).

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the magnetic layer has a hysteresis coefficient greater than about 300 (A/m).

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein turning on the RF source of the RF system is performed at a time duration of less than about 60 seconds.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising:
performing an H2 plasma treatment on the wafer to clean the magnetic layer after loading the wafer and prior to introducing the aromatic hydrocarbon precursor, wherein the turning on the RF source of the RF system is performed at a time duration shorter than a time duration of performing the H2 plasma treatment.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein turning on the RF source of the RF system is performed such that an ambient temperature inside the processing chamber is less than about 300° C.

### Claim 9

A plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) method, comprising:
loading a wafer having a magnetic layer thereon into a processing chamber equipped with a radio frequency (RF) system, the RF system connected to an inductive coil winding in a multiple-turn cylindrical configuration around a portion of the processing chamber, wherein loading the wafer allows a maximum dimension of the wafer for being in parallel with an axial extension direction of the inductive coil, and wherein the wafer has a transistor, a source/drain contact over a source/drain region of the transistor, and a dielectric layer over the source/drain contact and having a trench exposing the source/drain contact, and the magnetic layer is conformally formed over the dielectric layer and the source/drain contact exposed from the trench of the dielectric layer;
introducing a first aromatic hydrocarbon precursor into the processing chamber;
turning on an RF source of the RF system to decompose the first aromatic hydrocarbon precursor into first active radicals at a first frequency greater than about 1000 Hz to form a first graphene layer over the magnetic layer; and
forming a conductive material over the first graphene layer and in the trench of the dielectric layer.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The method of claim 9, wherein the inductive coil surpasses the maximum dimension of the wafer.

### Claim 11 (depends on 9)

The method of claim 9, wherein loading the wafer is performed such that the wafer is within the portion of the processing chamber wound by the inductive coil, and the inductive coil directly surrounds the wafer.

### Claim 12 (depends on 9)

The method of claim 9, wherein the step of turning on the RF source of the RF system is performed such that an ambient temperature inside the processing chamber is less than about 300° C.

### Claim 13

A plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) method, comprising:
loading a wafer having a magnetic layer thereon into a processing chamber equipped with a radio frequency (RF) system, wherein the wafer has a substrate, a first dielectric layer over the substrate, a metal contact in the first dielectric layer, and a second dielectric layer over the metal contact and having a trench exposing the metal contact, and the magnetic layer is conformally formed over the second dielectric layer and the metal contact exposed from the trench of the second dielectric layer;
introducing an aromatic hydrocarbon precursor into the processing chamber;
turning on an RF source of the RF system to decompose the aromatic hydrocarbon precursor into active radicals at a frequency greater than about 1000 Hz to form a first graphene layer over the magnetic layer; and
after forming the first graphene layer, forming a metal layer over the first graphene layer, such that the first graphene layer is sandwiched between the magnetic layer and the metal layer.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The method of claim 13, wherein the RF system is connected to an inductive coil winding in a multiple-turn cylindrical configuration around a portion of the processing chamber, and loading the wafer is performed such that the wafer is within the portion of the processing chamber wound by the inductive coil, and the inductive coil directly surrounds the wafer.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The method of claim 14, wherein the inductive coil surpasses a length of the wafer in an axial extension direction of the inductive coil.

### Claim 16 (depends on 13)

The method of claim 13, wherein the magnetic layer has a greater hysteresis coefficient than the metal layer.

### Claim 17 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising:
depositing a copper layer over the graphene layer.

### Claim 18 (depends on 9)

The method of claim 9, further comprising:
performing a chemical mechanical polishing process on the conductive material until the dielectric layer is exposed to form a filling metal in the trench;
introducing a second aromatic hydrocarbon precursor into the processing chamber; and
turning on the RF source of the RF system to decompose the second aromatic hydrocarbon precursor into second active radicals at a second frequency greater than about 1000 Hz to form a second graphene layer over the filling metal.

### Claim 19 (depends on 13)

The method of claim 13, wherein the metal layer comprises copper, tungsten, ruthenium, or combinations thereof.

### Claim 20 (depends on 13)

The method of claim 13, wherein the frequency of the RF source is greater than about 300 kHz.