Method for treating a dielectric film to reduce damage
AssigneeTokyo Electron Limited
InventorsKelvin Kyaw Zin, Shin Okamoto
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of treating a dielectric layer on a substrate is described. The method comprises forming the dielectric layer on the substrate, wherein the dielectric layer comprises a dielectric constant value less than the dielectric constant of SiO2. A feature pattern is formed in the dielectric layer using an etching process. Following the etching process, the feature pattern is treated using a nitrogen-containing plasma in order to form nitride surface layers by introducing nitrogen to the exposed surfaces of the dielectric layer in the feature pattern. Thereafter, the feature pattern is selectively etched to partially or fully remove the nitride surface layers.
Claims20
A method of treating a dielectric layer on a substrate, comprising:
- forming said dielectric layer on said substrate, wherein said dielectric layer comprises a dielectric constant value less than the dielectric constant of SiO2;
- forming a feature pattern in said dielectric layer using an etching process;
- following said etching process, treating said feature pattern using a nitrogen-containing plasma to facilitate nitridation of exposed surface layers of said dielectric layer to form nitride surface layers by introducing a process gas consisting of a nitrogen-containing gas and an optional inert gas to exposed surfaces of said dielectric layer in said feature pattern;
- and
- selectively etching said feature pattern to fully remove said nitride surface layers prior to forming a barrier layer in preparation of a metallization process.
A method of smoothing a dielectric layer on a substrate, comprising:
- forming said dielectric layer on said substrate, wherein said dielectric layer comprises a dielectric constant value less than the dielectric constant of SiO2;
- forming a feature pattern in said dielectric layer using an etching process;
- nitriding one or more surfaces on said feature pattern to form one or more nitride surface layers using a nitrogen-containing plasma formed using a process gas consisting of a nitrogen-containing gas and an optional inert gas;
- and
- following said nitriding, selectively etching said feature pattern to fully remove said one or more nitride surface layers prior to forming a barrier layer in preparation of a metallization process.
A liner removal process, comprising:
- forming a contact or via structure in a dielectric layer using a first etching process;
- exposing said contact or via structure in said dielectric layer to a nitrogen-containing plasma formed using a process gas consisting of a nitrogen-containing gas and an optional inert gas;
- and
- following said exposing, etching said contact or via structure through a silicon nitride layer underlying said dielectric layer using a second etching process prior to forming a barrier layer in preparation of a metallization process.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.