Nanolayer deposition process

An improved method to deposit a film on a substrate comprising a non-planar surface having at least one sidewall and a planar surface, said film comprised of a plurality of layers under same deposition conditions, the improvement comprising:

• depositing a fraction of the film;
• plasma treating to modify the fraction of the film along the sidewall and the planar surface of the fraction, wherein a thickness of the fraction of the film deposited is selected to ensure effective plasma treatment to reach a bottom of the deposited fraction of the film;
• and
• repeating said depositing a fraction of the film and plasma treating and modifying the fraction of the film to form said film wherein the film is conformal in composition and thickness on the non-planar and the planar surfaces.

A deposition method to deposit a conformal film in composition and thickness on a non-planar surface having at least one sidewall and a planar surface of a substrate, the conformal film comprised of a plurality of layers, the deposition method comprising:

• introducing a first plurality of precursors into a reaction chamber, the reaction chamber containing a substrate;
• depositing a first layer from the first plurality of precursors on the substrate, the deposition being not self-limiting;
• purging the first plurality of precursors from the reaction chamber;
• plasma treating to modify the first layer along the sidewall and the planar surface of the first layer with a second plurality of precursors to modify said first layer;
• depositing at least one subsequent layer;
• and
• repeating the treating step on the at least one subsequent layer to completely modify said at least one subsequent layer, wherein the treating step is performed after each depositing step throughout the deposition of the film and reaches bottoms of the deposited layers to form a conformal film.

A method to deposit a film on a substrate to achieve a conformal film in composition and thickness on the non-planar surface having at least one sidewall and the planar surface of the substrate, the film comprised of a plurality of layers, the method comprising:

• depositing a first layer from a first precursor;
• first plasma treating to completely modify the first layer along the sidewall and the planar surface of the first layer;
• depositing a second layer from a second precursor;
• second plasma treating to completely modify the second layer along the sidewall and the planar surface of the second layer without exposing the second layer to atmosphere;
• and
• repeating the depositing and treating steps until attaining the film with a plurality of desired properties.

A method to deposit a film on a substrate to achieve a conformal film in composition and thickness on the non-planar surface having at least one sidewall and the planar surface of the substrate, the film comprised of a plurality of layers under same deposition conditions, the method comprising:

• depositing a first layer from a first precursor;
• plasma treating an entire thickness of the first layer along the sidewall and the planar surface of the first layer;
• depositing a second layer from a second precursor;
• plasma treating an entire thickness of the second layer along the sidewall and the planar surface of the second layer;
• and
• repeating the depositing and treating steps.