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US 6,281,123 B1Granted
Method of reducing carbon incorporation into films produced by chemical vapor deposition involving organic precursor compounds
AssigneeMicron Technology, Inc.
InventorGurtej S. Sandhu
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In one aspect, a deposition method comprises the following steps: a) forming a layer on a semiconductive substrate, the layer comprising predominately an inorganic material, the layer also comprising incorporated carbon; b) generating a plasma adjacent the layer from a component gas, the component gas consisting essentially of N2; and c) utilizing the plasma to remove the carbon from the layer.
Claims46
A chemical vapor deposition method comprising the following steps:
- forming a first layer on a semiconductor wafer in a reactor from an organic precursor, the first layer comprising predominately an inorganic material, the first layer also comprising incorporated carbon;
- and
- after forming the first layer, injecting a component gas into the reactor and generating a plasma from the component gas within the reactor, the component gas consisting essentially of a gas selected from the group consisting of N2, Ar and mixtures thereof, the component gas providing an activated state component which is effective to remove the carbon from the first layer.
A chemical vapor deposition method comprising the following steps:
- forming a first layer on a semiconductor wafer in a reactor from an organic precursor, the first layer comprising predominately an inorganic material, the first layer also comprising incorporated carbon in the form of a carbide;
- and
- after forming the first layer, injecting a component gas into the reactor and generating a plasma from the component gas within the reactor, the component gas providing an activated component which is effective to remove the carbon of the carbide from the first layer.
A chemical vapor deposition method comprising the following steps:
- injecting an organic precursor within a reactor having a wafer positioned therein, and maintaining the reactor at a temperature and a pressure which in combination are effective to form a first layer on the wafer, the first layer comprising predominately an inorganic material, the first layer also comprising incorporated carbon;
- after forming the first layer, ceasing to inject the organic precursor into the reactor and first injecting a component gas into the reactor and generating a first plasma within the reactor, the component gas consisting essentially of a gas selected from the group consisting of N2, Ar and mixtures thereof, the component gas providing an activated component which is effective to remove the carbon from the first layer;
- after the first plasma treatment, injecting the organic precursor to within the reactor having the wafer positioned therein, and maintaining the reactor at a temperature and a pressure which in combination are effective to form a second layer on the wafer, the second layer comprising carbon;
- and
- after forming the second layer, ceasing to inject the organic precursor into the reactor and second injecting the component gas into the reactor and generating a second plasma within the reactor, the component gas providing the activated component which is effective to remove the carbon from the second layer.
2 more elements
A chemical vapor deposition method comprising the following steps:
- forming a first layer on a semiconductor wafer from an organic precursor compound, the first layer comprising predominately an inorganic material, the first layer also comprising incorporated carbon in the form of a carbide;
- after forming the first layer, ceasing to inject the organic precursor into the reactor and first injecting a component gas into the reactor and generating a first plasma from the component gas within the reactor, the component gas providing an activated component which is effective to remove the carbon of the carbide from the first layer, the component gas providing a bonding component which replaces and substitutes for the carbon displaced from the carbide in the first layer;
- after the first plasma treatment, injecting the organic precursor to within the reactor having the wafer positioned therein, and maintaining the reactor at a temperature and a pressure which in combination are effective to form a second layer on the wafer, the second layer comprising carbon in the form of a carbide;
- and
- after forming the second layer, ceasing to inject the organic precursor into the reactor and second injecting the component gas into the reactor and generating a second plasma from the component gas within the reactor, the component gas providing an activated component which is effective to remove the carbon of the carbide from the second layer.
2 more elements
A deposition method comprising the following steps:
- forming a layer on a semiconductive substrate, the layer comprising predominately an inorganic material, the layer also comprising incorporated carbon;
- generating a plasma adjacent the layer from a component gas, the component gas consisting essentially of N2;
- and
- utilizing the plasma to remove the carbon from the layer.
1 more element
A deposition method comprising the following steps:
- depositing a layer on a semiconductor wafer, the layer comprising predominately an inorganic material, the layer also comprising incorporated carbon;
- and
- generating a plasma adjacent the layer from a component gas, the component gas consisting essentially of a gas selected from the group consisting of N2 and Ar.
A deposition method comprising the following steps:
- depositing a first layer on a semiconductor wafer, the first layer comprising predominately an inorganic material, the first layer also comprising incorporated carbon;
- generating a first plasma adjacent the first layer from a component gas, the component gas consisting essentially of a gas selected from the group consisting of N2 and Ar;
- removing the carbon from the first layer with the first plasma;
- after removing the carbon from the first layer, depositing a second layer on the wafer, the second layer comprising incorporated carbon;
- generating a second plasma adjacent the second layer;
- and
- removing the carbon from the second layer with the second plasma.
4 more elements
A deposition method comprising the following steps:
- forming a layer on a semiconductor wafer, the layer comprising predominately an inorganic material, the layer also comprising incorporated carbon in the form of a carbide;
- and
- utilizing a plasma to remove the carbide from the layer.
A deposition method comprising the following steps:
- depositing a first layer of material on a semiconductor wafer, the first layer comprising predominately an inorganic material, the first layer also comprising incorporated carbon in the form of a carbide;
- utilizing a first plasma to remove the carbide from the first layer;
- depositing a second layer of material on the semiconductor wafer, the second layer comprising incorporated carbon;
- utilizing a second plasma to remove the carbon from the second layer.
1 more element
A deposition method comprising the following steps:
- injecting an organic precursor within a reactor having a wafer positioned therein to form a first layer on the wafer, the first layer comprising predominately an inorganic material, the first layer also comprising incorporated carbon;
- generating a first plasma within the reactor to treat the wafer with a first plasma treatment which removes the incorporated carbon from the first layer;
- after the first plasma treatment, injecting the organic precursor to within the reactor having the wafer positioned therein to form a second layer on the wafer;
- generating a second plasma within the reactor to treat the wafer with a second plasma treatment;
- and
- wherein the organic precursor injection steps and the plasma treatment steps are conducted for respective time periods, the sum of the plasma treatment step's time periods being at least two times as great as the sum of the organic precursor injection step's time periods.
3 more elements
A deposition method comprising the following steps:
- injecting an organic precursor within a reactor having a wafer positioned therein to form a first layer on the wafer, the first layer comprising predominately an inorganic material, the first layer also comprising incorporated carbon;
- generating a first plasma within the reactor to treat the wafer with a first plasma treatment which removes the incorporated carbon from the first layer, the first plasma being generated from a component gas comprising at least one of the elements N or Ar;
- after the first plasma treatment, injecting the organic precursor to within the reactor having the wafer positioned therein to form a second layer on the wafer;
- generating a second plasma within the reactor to treat the wafer with a second plasma treatment;
- and
- wherein the organic precursor injection steps and the plasma treatment steps are conducted for respective time periods, the sum of the plasma treatment step's time periods being at least two times as great as the sum of the organic precursor injection step's time periods.
3 more elements
A deposition method comprising the following steps:
- depositing a first layer on a semiconductor wafer, the first layer comprising predominately an inorganic material, the first layer also comprising incorporated hydrocarbon;
- after depositing the first layer, generating a first plasma adjacent the first layer from a component gas, the component gas comprising at least one of the elements N, H or Ar;
- and
- removing the hydrocarbon from the first layer with the first plasma.
1 more element
A deposition method comprising the following steps:
- depositing a first layer on a semiconductor wafer, the first layer comprising predominately an inorganic material, the first layer also comprising incorporated hydrocarbon;
- after depositing the first layer, generating a first plasma adjacent the first layer from a component gas, the component gas comprising at least one of the elements N, H or Ar;
- removing the hydrocarbon from the first layer with the first plasma;
- after removing the hydrocarbon from the first layer, depositing a second layer on the wafer, the second layer comprising incorporated carbon;
- generating a second plasma adjacent the second layer;
- and
- removing the carbon from the second layer with the second plasma.
4 more elements
A chemical vapor deposition method comprising the following steps:
- forming a first layer on a semiconductor wafer in a reactor, the first layer comprising predominately an inorganic material, the first layer also comprising incorporated carbon;
- and
- after forming the first layer, injecting a component gas into the reactor and generating a plasma from the component gas within the reactor, the component gas comprising at least one of the elements N or Ar, the component gas providing an activated state component which is effective to remove the carbon from the first layer.
A method of forming a titanium nitride layer comprising:
- forming a layer over a substrate, the layer comprising titanium nitride having carbon incorporated therein;
- and
- treating the layer with a plasma to remove carbon from the layer, the plasma having a component which is effective when in an activated state to interact with a component of the layer to remove carbon.
A method of forming titanium nitride over a substrate, comprising:
- forming a first layer over a substrate, the first layer comprising titanium nitride having carbon incorporated therein;
- treating the first layer with a first plasma to remove carbon from the first layer, the first plasma having a component which is effective when in an activated state to interact with a component of the first layer to remove carbon;
- forming second layer over the plasma-treated first layer, the second layer comprising titanium nitride having carbon incorporated therein;
- and
- treating the second layer with a second plasma to remove carbon from the second layer, the second plasma having a component which is effective when in an activated state to interact with a component of the second layer to remove carbon.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.