# US 2020/0286773 A1 · Cyclic flowable deposition and high-density plasma treatment processes for high quality gap fill solutions

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- Number: US 2020/0286773 A1
- Document ID: US20200286773A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 16/882,989
- Filed: 2020-05-26
- Published: 2020-09-10
- Earliest claimed: 2017-05-13
- Assignees: Applied Materials, Inc.
- Applicants: Applied Materials, Inc.
- Inventors: Jingmei LIANG; Yong SUN; Jinrui GUO; Praket P. JHA; Jung Chan LEE; Tza-Jing GUNG; Mukund SRINIVASAN
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20200286773A1

## CPC

- H10W 10/014: {using trench refilling with dielectric materials, e.g. shallow trench isolations}
- C23C 16/045: {Coating cavities or hollow spaces, e.g. interior of tubes; Infiltration of porous substrates}
- C23C 16/308: {Oxynitrides}
- C23C 16/325: {Silicon carbide}
- C23C 16/345: {Silicon nitride}
- C23C 16/36: Carbonitrides
- C23C 16/402: {Silicon dioxide}
- C23C 16/45523: {Pulsed gas flow or change of composition over time}
- C23C 16/4554: {Plasma being used non-continuously in between ALD reactions (C23C16/56 takes precedence)}
- C23C 16/505: using radio frequency discharges
- H01J 37/32899: {Multiple chambers, e.g. cluster tools}
- H10P 14/6336: {in the presence of a plasma [PECVD]}
- H10P 14/6339: {deposition by cyclic CVD, e.g. ALD, ALE or pulsed CVD}
- H10P 14/6522: {introduced into a nitride material, e.g. changing SiN to SiON}
- H10P 14/6524: {the substance being nitrogen}
- H10P 14/6529: {by exposure to a gas or vapour}
- H10P 14/6532: {by exposure to a plasma}
- H10P 14/6538: {by exposure to UV light}
- H10P 14/6682: {the compound being a silane, e.g. disilane, methylsilane or chlorosilane}
- H10P 14/6686: {the compound being a molecule comprising at least one silicon-oxygen bond and the compound having hydrogen or an organic group attached to the silicon or oxygen, e.g. a siloxane}
- H10P 14/6687: {the compound comprising silicon and nitrogen}
- H10P 14/6905: {being a silicon carbide or silicon carbonitride and not containing oxygen, e.g. SiC or SiC:H}
- H10P 14/69215: {the material being a silicon oxide, e.g. SiO2}
- H10P 14/6922: {the material containing Si, O and at least one of H, N, C, F or other non-metal elements, e.g. SiOC, SiOC:H or SiONC}
- H10P 14/6927: {the material being a silicon oxynitride, e.g. SiON or SiON:H}
- H10P 14/69433: {the material being a silicon nitride not containing oxygen, e.g. SixNy or SixByNz}
- H10P 72/0454: {surrounding a central transfer chamber}
- H10P 72/0461: {characterised by the presence of two or more transfer chambers}
- H10P 72/0468: {comprising a chamber adapted to a particular process}
- H10W 10/0143: {comprising concurrently refilling multiple trenches having different shapes or dimensions}
- H10W 10/17: formed using trench refilling with dielectric materials, e.g. shallow trench isolations
- H01J 37/32357: {Generation remote from the workpiece, e.g. down-stream}
- H01J 2237/3321: CVD [Chemical Vapor Deposition]
- H10W: GENERIC PACKAGES, INTERCONNECTIONS, CONNECTORS OR OTHER CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10
- C23C: COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; SURFACE TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL BY DIFFUSION INTO THE SURFACE, BY CHEMICAL CONVERSION OR SUBSTITUTION; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL (making metal-coated products by extrusion B21C23/22; covering with metal by connecting pre-existing layers to articles, see the relevant places, e.g. B21D39/00, B23K; metallising of glass C03C; metallising mortars, concrete, artificial stone, ceramics or natural stone C04B41/00; enamelling of, or applying a vitreous layer to, metals C23D; treating metal surfaces or coating of metals by electrolysis or electrophoresis C25D; single-crystal film growth C30B; by metallising textiles D06M11/83; decorating textiles by locally metallising D06Q1/04)
- H01J: ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS (spark-gaps H01T; electric arc lamps H05B31/00; particle accelerators H05H)
- H10P: GENERIC PROCESSES OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10

## Abstract

Embodiments disclosed herein relate to cluster tools for forming and filling trenches in a substrate with a flowable dielectric material. In one or more embodiments, a cluster tool for processing a substrate contains a load lock chamber, a first vacuum transfer chamber coupled to the load lock chamber, a second vacuum transfer chamber, a cooling station disposed between the first vacuum transfer chamber and the second vacuum transfer chamber, a factory interface coupled to the load lock chamber, a plurality of first processing chambers coupled to the first vacuum transfer chamber, wherein each of the first processing chambers is a deposition chamber capable of performing a flowable layer deposition, and a plurality of second processing chambers coupled to the second vacuum transfer chamber, wherein each of the second processing chambers is a plasma chamber capable of performing a plasma curing process.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A cluster tool for processing a substrate, comprising:
a load lock chamber;
a transfer chamber coupled to a first side of the load lock chamber;
a plurality of first processing chambers coupled to the transfer chamber, wherein each of the first processing chambers is a deposition chamber capable of performing a flowable layer deposition;
a plurality of second processing chambers coupled to the transfer chamber, wherein each of the second processing chambers is a curing chamber capable of performing a thermal curing process;
a plurality of third processing chambers coupled to the transfer chamber, wherein each of the third processing chambers is a plasma chamber capable of performing a plasma curing process; and
a factory interface coupled to a second side of the load chamber.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The cluster tool of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first processing chambers is a high-density plasma chemical vapor deposition (CVD) chamber, a plasma-enhanced CVD chamber, or a sub-atmospheric CVD chamber.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The cluster tool of claim 2, wherein at least one of the first processing chambers is configured to deposit a silicon-containing dielectric layer.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The cluster tool of claim 3, wherein at least one of the first processing chambers is in communication with a silicon-containing precursor comprising a siloxane compound or a halogenated siloxane compound containing one or more halogen moieties.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The cluster tool of claim 1, wherein at least one of the second processing chambers is a UV light curing chamber, a thermal curing chamber, a microwave curing chamber, a plasma curing chamber, an e-beam curing chamber, or an neutral beam curing chamber.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The cluster tool of claim 5, wherein at least one of the second processing chambers is configured to perform a curing process in a radical-based ambient comprising oxygen, nitrogen, or an inert gas.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The cluster tool of claim 1, wherein at least one of the third processing chambers is an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) chamber or a capacitively-coupled plasma (CCP) chamber.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The cluster tool of claim 7, wherein at least one of the third processing chambers is configured to perform a curing process in oxygen/helium ambient, oxygen/argon ambient, or oxygen/hydrogen ambient.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The cluster tool of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first processing chambers is a high-density plasma CVD chamber, at least one of the second processing chambers is a UV light curing chamber, and at least one of the third processing chambers is an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) chamber.

### Claim 10

A cluster tool for processing a substrate, comprising:
a load lock chamber;
a transfer chamber coupled to the load lock chamber;
a plurality of first processing chambers coupled to the transfer chamber, wherein each of the first processing chambers is a deposition chamber capable of performing a flowable layer deposition;
a plurality of second processing chambers coupled to the transfer chamber, wherein each of the second processing chambers is a curing chamber capable of performing a thermal curing process; and
a plurality of third processing chambers coupled to the transfer chamber, wherein each of the third processing chambers is a plasma chamber capable of performing a plasma curing process.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The cluster tool of claim 10, wherein at least one of the first processing chambers is a high-density plasma chemical vapor deposition (CVD) chamber, a plasma-enhanced CVD chamber, or a sub-atmospheric CVD chamber.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The cluster tool of claim 11, wherein at least one of the first processing chambers is configured to deposit a silicon-containing dielectric layer.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The cluster tool of claim 12, wherein at least one of the first processing chambers is in communication with a silicon-containing precursor comprising a siloxane compound or a halogenated siloxane compound containing one or more halogen moieties.

### Claim 14 (depends on 10)

The cluster tool of claim 10, wherein at least one of the second processing chambers is a UV light curing chamber, a thermal curing chamber, a microwave curing chamber, a plasma curing chamber, an e-beam curing chamber, or an neutral beam curing chamber.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The cluster tool of claim 14, wherein at least one of the second processing chambers is configured to perform a curing process in a radical-based ambient comprising oxygen, nitrogen, or an inert gas.

### Claim 16 (depends on 10)

The cluster tool of claim 10, wherein at least one of the third processing chambers is an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) chamber or a capacitively-coupled plasma (CCP) chamber.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The cluster tool of claim 16, wherein at least one of the third processing chambers is configured to perform a curing process in oxygen/helium ambient, oxygen/argon ambient, or oxygen/hydrogen ambient.

### Claim 18 (depends on 10)

The cluster tool of claim 10, wherein at least one of the first processing chambers is a high-density plasma CVD chamber, at least one of the second processing chambers is a UV light curing chamber, and at least one of the third processing chambers is an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) chamber.

### Claim 19

A cluster tool for processing a substrate, comprising:
a load lock chamber;
a transfer chamber coupled to the load lock chamber;
a plurality of first processing chambers coupled to the transfer chamber, wherein each of the first processing chambers is a plasma chemical vapor deposition chamber capable of performing a flowable layer deposition of a silicon-containing dielectric layer;
a plurality of second processing chambers coupled to the transfer chamber, wherein each of the second processing chambers is a UV-light curing chamber capable of performing a thermal curing process; and
a plurality of third processing chambers coupled to the transfer chamber, wherein each of the third processing chambers is an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) chamber capable of performing a plasma curing process.

### Claim 20 (depends on 19)

The cluster tool of claim 19, wherein at least one of the second processing chambers is configured to perform a curing process in a radical-based ambient comprising oxygen, nitrogen, or an inert gas.