Two-stage ozone cure for dielectric films
AssigneeApplied Materials, Inc.
InventorsXiaolin Chen, Jingmei Liang, Nitin K. Ingle, Shankar Venkataraman
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Abstract
A method of forming a silicon oxide layer is described. The method increases the oxygen content of a dielectric layer by curing the layer in a two-step ozone cure. The first step involves exposing the dielectric layer to ozone while the second step involves exposing the dielectric layer to ozone excited by a local plasma. This sequence can reduce or eliminate the need for a subsequent anneal following the cure step. The two-step ozone cures may be applied to silicon-and-nitrogen-containing film to convert the films to silicon oxide.
Claims20
A method of forming a silicon oxide layer on a substrate in a substrate processing region in a substrate processing chamber, the method comprising:
- transferring the substrate into the substrate processing region;
- dual-stage curing a silicon-containing layer, wherein the dual-stage curing operation comprises:
- flowing ozone into the substrate processing region,
- exposing the silicon-containing layer to the ozone in a first curing stage while applying essentially no plasma power to the substrate processing region, wherein the operation of exposing the silicon-containing layer converts the silicon-containing layer to a silicon-and-oxygen-containing layer, and
- exposing the silicon-and-oxygen-containing layer in a second curing stage while applying a plasma power to excite the ozone within the substrate processing region, wherein the plasma power applied during the second curing stage is greater than the plasma power applied during the first curing stage and wherein the silicon-and-oxygen-containing layer is converted to the silicon oxide layer;
- and
- removing the substrate from the substrate processing region.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.