Grain structure engineering for metal gapfill materials

A method for depositing copper, comprising:

• depositing a grain control layer conformally onto a copper seed layer in at least one structure on a substrate, wherein the grain control layer is a non-conducting material;
• depositing a polymer layer on the substrate in an etch chamber such that at least one exposed corner of the at least one structure is covered during a subsequent etching process;
• etching the grain control layer using a direct deep reactive ion etch (DRIE) process to remove portions of the grain control layer on horizontal surfaces within the at least one structure;
• and
• depositing a copper gapfill material onto the at least one structure such that at least one grain parameter of the copper gapfill material is controlled, at least in part, by a remaining portion of the grain control layer on vertical surfaces of the at least one structure, wherein deposited copper gapfill material in the at least one structure has a <111> grain orientation normal to a horizontal surface of the at least one structure.

A non-transitory, computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a method for depositing copper to be performed, the method comprising:

• depositing a grain control layer conformally onto a copper seed layer in at least one structure on a substrate, wherein the grain control layer is a non-conducting material;
• depositing a polymer layer on the substrate in an etch chamber such that at least one exposed corner of the at least one structure is covered during a subsequent etching process;
• etching the grain control layer using a direct deep reactive ion etch (DRIE) process to remove portions of the grain control layer on horizontal surfaces within the at least one structure;
• and
• depositing a copper material onto the at least one structure such that at least one grain parameter of the copper material is controlled, at least in part, by a remaining portion of the grain control layer on vertical surfaces of the at least one structure, wherein deposited copper material in the at least one structure has a <111> grain orientation normal to a horizontal surface of the at least one structure.