Method and apparatus for improved electroplating fill of an aperture

#1. Field of the Invention

#Embodiments of the invention described herein relate to a metallization process for manufacturing semiconductor devices and to filling an aperture.

#2. Description of the Related Art

#So that the manner in which the apertures described herein are attained and can be understood in detail, a more particular description of the invention, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to the embodiments thereof which are illustrated in the appended drawings.

#It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of this invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments.

#FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of one embodiment of an IMP-PVD chamber;

#The invention described herein generally relates to depositing materials that inhibit or limit the nucleation or growth of subsequent layers to promote “bottom-up” fill of apertures in a subsequent electroplating process. In one aspect, the growth-inhibiting layer is selectively deposited on at least one of the field of the substrate or the upper portion of the aperture. The growth-inhibiting layer may be deposited by a physical vapor deposition technique, such as a high-pressure physical vapor deposition technique, an ionized metal plasma physical vapor deposition technique, or a self-ionized plasma physical vapor deposition technique.

#The words and phrases used herein should be given their ordinary and customary meaning in the art by one skilled in the art unless otherwise further defined. Growth-inhibiting layer is broadly defined herein as a continuous or discontinuous layer of material deposited to limit, reduce, or inhibit nucleation of subsequently deposited material. Seed layer is broadly defined herein as a continuous or discontinuous layer of material deposited to promote or increase the nucleation of subsequently deposited material. Native oxides are broadly defined herein as oxides of a material formed from exposure to an oxidizing source, such as an oxygen-containing atmosphere.

#The invention will be described below in reference to a physical vapor deposition process (PVD) technique, that can be carried out using process equipment, such as an Endura® platform, available from Applied Materials, Inc., located in Santa Clara, Calif. The equipment may include an integrated platform having a high-density plasma physical vapor deposition (HDP-PVD) chamber, such as an ion metal plasma PVD (IMP-PVD) processing chamber, known as an IMP VECTRA™ chamber, available from Applied Material Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif. The equipment may also include an integrated platform having a deposition chamber adapted to perform a Self-ionized Plasma (SIP) physical vapor deposition technique (SIP-PVD). The invention contemplates any chamber enabling the selective deposition of materials on a substrate or in an aperture can be used to advantage with the processes described herein.