Surface treatment for semiconductor structure
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorChih-Chao Yang
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method includes forming a dielectric layer and forming a metallic conductor at least partially in the dielectric layer. Formation of the metallic conductor at least partially in the dielectric layer includes performing a planarization process. The method further includes treating respective surface areas of the dielectric layer and the metallic conductor, after the planarization process, to modify the respective surface areas of the dielectric layer and the metallic conductor. In one example, the surface treatment is a neutral atom beam treatment.
Claims14
-7. (canceled)
A method of forming a semiconductor structure, comprising steps of:
- forming a dielectric layer;
- forming a metallic conductor at least partially in the dielectric layer, wherein formation of the metallic conductor at least partially in the dielectric layer comprises performing a planarization process;
- treating respective surface areas of the dielectric layer and the metallic conductor, after the planarization process, to modify the respective surface areas of the dielectric layer and the metallic conductor, and
- applying a thermal annealing process to the semiconductor structure after the treating step,
- wherein the treating step comprises applying neutral atom beams to the respective surface areas of the dielectric layer and the metallic conductor, and further wherein the neutral atom beam application introduces one or more chemical elements into the respective surface areas of the dielectric layer and the metallic conductor,
- wherein, for the surface area of the metallic conductor, the introduced one or more chemical elements create point defects in the surface area of the metallic conductor.
-22. (canceled)
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.