Hydroxyl bond removal and film densification method for oxide films using microwave post treatment
AssigneeNovellus Systems, Inc.
InventorsSeon-Mee Cho, Mike Barnes, Michelle Schulberg, George D. Papasouliotis
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Abstract
Methods of forming dielectric films with increased density and improved film properties are provided. The methods involve exposing dielectric films to microwave radiation. According to various embodiments, the methods may be used to remove hydroxyl bonds, increase film density, reduce or eliminate seams and voids, and optimize film properties such as dielectric constant, refractive index and stress for particular applications. In certain embodiments, the methods are used to form conformal films deposited by a technique such as PDL. The methods may be used in applications requiring low thermal budgets.
Claims25
A method of depositing a dielectric film in a gap on a semiconductor substrate, the method comprising:
- a) providing a semiconductor substrate in a deposition reaction chamber;
- b) exposing a substrate surface of the semiconductor substrate to a metal-containing precursor gas to form a saturated layer of metal-containing precursor on the substrate surface;
- c) exposing the substrate surface to a silicon-containing precursor gas to form dielectric material in the gap;
- and
- d) exposing the dielectric material to microwave radiation to modify properties of the dielectric material.
A method of preparing a dielectric film on a substrate, the method comprising:
- a) depositing a dielectric material on a substrate, the dielectric material comprising hydroxyl bonds, wherein depositing the dielectric material on the substrate comprises depositing the dielectric material from a vapor by an atomic layer deposition (ALD) or pulsed deposition layer (PDL) method;
- and
- b) exposing the dielectric material to microwave radiation to reduce a number of hydroxyl bonds.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.