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US 2020/0286743 A1Published application
Atomic layer etch of tungsten for enhanced tungsten deposition fill
AssigneeLam Research Corporation
InventorsChiukin Steven Lai, Keren Jacobs Kanarik, Samantha Tan, Anand Chandrashekar, Teh-Tien Su, Wenbing Yang, Michael Wood, Michal Danek
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Abstract
Methods of depositing tungsten into high aspect ratio features using a dep-etch-dep process integrating various deposition techniques with alternating pulses of surface modification and removal during etch are provided herein.
Claims35
A method of filling features on a substrate, the method comprising:
- (a) depositing a first amount of a metal in a feature;
- and
- (b) directionally etching the metal at or near an opening of the feature relative to an interior region of the feature by
- (i) modifying the surface of the deposited metal by exposing the metal to a halogen-containing gas;
- and
- (ii) exposing the modified surface to an activation gas to selectively etch the metal.
3 more elements
A method comprising:
- (a) partially filling a feature with tungsten;
- (b) directionally etching tungsten at or near the opening of the feature by exposing the substrate to alternating pulses of a halogen-containing gas and an activation gas;
- and
- (c) filling the feature with tungsten.
1 more element
An apparatus for processing semiconductor substrates, the apparatus comprising:
- a process chamber comprising a showerhead and a substrate support,
- a plasma generator, and
- a controller having at least one processor and a memory,
- wherein the at least one processor and the memory are communicatively connected with one another,
- the at least one processor is at least operatively connected with the flow-control hardware, and
- the memory stores machine-readable instructions for:
- (i) introducing a tungsten-containing precursor and a reducing agent to the chamber to deposit tungsten on a substrate;
- (ii) introducing a halogen-containing gas to modify the surface of the tungsten;
- and
- (iii) introducing an activation gas and igniting a plasma to etch at least part of the modified surface of tungsten.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.