Device and method for protecting against oxidation of a conductive layer in said device
AssigneeMicron Technology, Inc.
InventorVishnu K. Agarwal
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In a semiconductor device including a first conductive layer, the first conductive layer is treated with a nitrogen/hydrogen plasma before an additional layer is deposited thereover. The treatment stuffs the surface with nitrogen, thereby preventing oxygen from being adsorbed onto the surface of the first conductive layer. In one embodiment, a second conductive layer is deposited onto the first conductive layer, and the plasma treatment lessens if not eliminates an oxide formed between the two layers as a result of subsequent thermal treatments. In another embodiment, a dielectric layer is deposited onto the first conductive layer, and the plasma treatment lessens if not eliminates the ability of the first conductive layer to incorporate oxygen from the dielectric.
Claims5
An in-process device, comprising:
- a substrate;
- a conductive layer comprising a metal layer over the substrate, the conductive layer being exposed to a material selected from the group consisting of phosphine and methylsilane to reduce an ability of the conductive layer to associate with oxygen;
- and
- a second conductive layer comprising a tungsten nitride layer formed on the conductive layer and a third conductive layer comprising a copper layer formed on the second conductive layer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.