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US 6,388,309 B1Granted
Apparatus and method for manufacturing semiconductors using low dielectric constant materials
AssigneeAdvanced Micro Devices, Inc.
InventorsLu You, Dawn M. Hopper, Richard J. Huang
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An ultra-large scale integrated circuit is manufactured by using silicon-based, low dielectric constant materials which are spin-coated, dried, cured, and capped in-situ in chemical vapor deposition equipment. The low dielectric constant material is spun on, processed in chemical vapor deposition equipment, subject to chemical-mechanical polishing, and then processed by a conventional photolithographic process for depositing conductors. The material is then reprocessed for each successive layer of conductor separated by dielectric.
Claims15
An apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor wafer comprising:
- chemical vapor deposition equipment for containing the semiconductor wafer;
- a dielectric material application system for depositing a low dielectric constant material onto the semiconductor wafer within the chemical vapor deposition equipment by non-chemical vapor deposition;
- a vacuum pump system for removing oxygen from the semiconductor wafer in said chemical vapor deposition equipment;
- heating means for heating the semiconductor wafer in said chemical vapor deposition equipment at a temperature below the temperature at which said low dielectric material is oxidized into silicon dioxide and at a temperature at which chemical vapor deposition occurs;
- and
- means for depositing a cap material selected from the group containing silicon dioxide, silicon oxynitride, and silicon nitride on said low dielectric constant material by chemical vapor deposition whereby said removing heating, depositing said low dielectric constant material, and depositing said cap material steps are performed sequentially without removing the semiconductor wafer from said chemical vapor deposition equipment.
3 more elements
An apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor wafer comprising:
- chemical vapor deposition equipment for containing the semiconductor wafer;
- a dielectric material application system for depositing a low dielectric constant material onto the semiconductor wafer within the chemical vapor deposition equipment by spin-deposition;
- a vacuum pump system for removing oxygen from the semiconductor wafer in said chemical vapor deposition equipment;
- heating means for heating the semiconductor wafer in said chemical vapor deposition equipment at a temperature below the temperature at which said low dielectric constant material is oxidized into silicon dioxide and at a temperature at which chemical vapor deposition occurs;
- and
- means for depositing a cap material selected from the group containing silicon dioxide, silicon oxynitride, and silicon nitride on said low dielectric constant material by chemical vapor deposition whereby said removing heating depositing said low dielectric constant material, and depositing said cap material steps are performed sequentially without removing the semiconductor wafer from said chemical vapor deposition equipment.
3 more elements
An apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor wafer comprising:
- chemical vapor deposition equipment for containing the semiconductor wafer;
- a dielectric material application system for depositing a low dielectric constant material in a solvent onto the semiconductor wafer within the chemical vapor deposition equipment, the dielectric material application system including:
- a dispenser, and
- a mechanism for spinning the semiconductor wafer;
- a vacuum pump system for removing solvent and oxygen from the semiconductor wafer in said chemical vapor deposition equipment;
- heating lamps for heating the semiconductor wafer in said chemical vapor deposition equipment for curing the low dielectric constant material at a temperature below the temperature at which said low dielectric constant material is oxidized into silicon dioxide and at a temperature at which chemical vapor deposition occurs;
- and
- means for depositing a cap material selected from the group containing silicon dioxide, silicon oxynitride, and silicon nitride on said low dielectric constant material by a chemical vapor deposition process whereby said removing, heating, depositing said low dielectric constant material, and depositing said cap material steps are performed sequentially without removing the semiconductor wafer from said chemical vapor deposition equipment.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.