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US 2021/0265157 A1Published application
Methods And Apparatus For Low Temperature Silicon Nitride Films
AssigneeApplied Materials, Inc.
InventorsWenbo Yan, Cong Trinh, Ning Li, Mihaela Balseanu, Li-Qun Xia, Maribel Maldonado-Garcia
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Abstract
Processing methods for forming a silicon nitride film comprising exposing a metal surface to a silicon precursor, a nitrogen-containing reactant and a hydrogen-containing plasma at a temperature less than or equal to about 250° C. to form a silicon nitride film with a low etch rate without damaging the metal surface.
Claims16
A method of forming a silicon nitride film, the method comprising:
- exposing a substrate having a metal layer thereon to a silicon precursor to form a silicon-containing film on the substrate surface;
- exposing the silicon-containing film to a nitrogen-containing reactant to form a silicon nitride film on the substrate surface without the use of plasma;
- and
- exposing the silicon nitride film on the substrate surface to a hydrogen-containing plasma to form a low etch silicon nitride film,
- wherein the method is performed at a temperature less than or equal to about 250° C.
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A method of forming a silicon nitride film, the method comprising:
- exposing a substrate having a cobalt layer thereon to a silicon precursor to form a silicon-containing film on the substrate surface;
- exposing the silicon-containing film to a nitrogen-containing reactant to form a silicon nitride film on the cobalt layer without the use of plasma;
- and
- exposing the silicon nitride film on the substrate to a hydrogen-containing plasma to form a low etch silicon nitride film, the hydrogen-containing plasma generated by a vertical plasma source;
- and
- repeating exposure of the substrate surface to the silicon precursor to form additional silicon-containing film on the low etch silicon nitride film, exposure of the additional silicon-containing film to the nitrogen-containing reactant to form additional silicon nitride film, and exposure of the additional silicon nitride film to the hydrogen-containing plasma to form additional low etch silicon nitride film until a predetermined thickness of the low etch silicon nitride film is formed,
- wherein the method is performed at a temperature less than or equal to about 250° C. and after formation of the low etch silicon nitride film there are no sputtered cobalt spheres diffused into the low etch silicon nitride film.
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Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.