Methods of forming metal nitride materials
AssigneeGlobalfoundries Inc.
InventorsBernd Hintze, Frank Koschinsky
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Abstract
Disclosed herein are various methods of forming metal nitride layers on various types of semiconductor devices. In one example, the method includes forming a layer of insulating material above a semiconducting substrate, performing a physical vapor deposition process to form a metal nitride layer above the layer of insulating material, wherein the metal nitride layer has an intrinsic as-deposited stress level, and performing at least one process operation on the metal nitride layer to reduce a magnitude of the intrinsic as-deposited stress level in the metal nitride layer.
Claims28
A method, comprising:
- forming a layer of insulating material above a semiconducting substrate;
- performing a physical vapor deposition process to form a metal nitride layer above and in contact with said layer of insulating material, said metal nitride layer having an intrinsic as-deposited stress level;
- and
- performing at least one process operation on said metal nitride layer in a processing ambient comprised of a forming gas to reduce a magnitude of said intrinsic as-deposited stress level in said metal nitride layer, wherein said forming gas is comprised of nitrogen and hydrogen.
A method, comprising:
- forming a layer of insulating material above a semiconducting substrate;
- performing a physical vapor deposition process to form a layer of titanium nitride above said layer of insulating material, said layer of titanium nitride having an intrinsic as-deposited stress level;
- and
- performing a remote plasma process on said layer of titanium nitride in a processing ambient comprised of ammonia to reduce a magnitude of said intrinsic as-deposited stress level in said layer of titanium nitride.
A method, comprising:
- performing a chemical vapor deposition process to form a TEOS-based layer of silicon dioxide above a semiconducting substrate;
- performing a physical vapor deposition process to form a layer of titanium nitride above and in contact with said TEOS-based layer of silicon dioxide, said layer of titanium nitride having an intrinsic as-deposited stress level;
- and
- performing an anneal process on said layer of titanium nitride in a processing ambient comprised of a forming gas to reduce a magnitude of said intrinsic as-deposited stress level in said layer of titanium nitride, wherein said forming gas is comprised of nitrogen and hydrogen.
A method, comprising:
- forming a layer of insulating material above a semiconducting substrate;
- performing a physical vapor deposition process to form a metal nitride layer above said layer of insulating material, said metal nitride layer having an intrinsic as-deposited stress level;
- and
- performing a remote plasma process on said metal nitride layer in a processing ambient comprised of ammonia to reduce a magnitude of said intrinsic as-deposited stress level in said metal nitride layer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.