US 9,911,595 B1Granted

Selective growth of silicon nitride

AssigneeLam Research Corporation

InventorsDavid Charles Smith, Dennis M. Hausmann

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Abstract

Methods and apparatuses for selectively depositing silicon nitride on silicon surfaces relative to silicon oxide surfaces and selectively depositing silicon nitride on silicon oxide surfaces relative to silicon surfaces are provided herein. Methods involve exposing the substrate to an alkene which is selectively reactive with the silicon surface to block the silicon surface by forming an organic moiety on the silicon surface prior to depositing silicon nitride selectively on silicon oxide surfaces using thermal atomic layer deposition. Methods involve exposing the substrate to an alkylsilylhalide which is selectively reactive with the silicon oxide surface to block the silicon oxide surface by forming an organic moiety on the silicon oxide surface prior to depositing silicon nitride selectively on silicon surfaces using thermal atomic layer deposition.

Claims17

Dependent claims

A method of depositing silicon nitride on a semiconductor substrate, the method comprising:

providing the semiconductor substrate having an exposed silicon oxide surface and an exposed silicon surface;
exposing the semiconductor substrate to a blocking reagent to block one of the exposed silicon oxide surface and the exposed silicon surface by forming an organic moiety on the one of the exposed silicon oxide surface and the exposed silicon surface while the other of the exposed silicon oxide surface and the exposed silicon surface remains unblocked;
and
selectively depositing silicon nitride on the other of the exposed silicon oxide surface and the exposed silicon surface by one or more thermal atomic layer deposition cycles, each cycle comprising:
exposing the semiconductor substrate having the blocked and unblocked surfaces to a silicon-containing precursor to adsorb the silicon-containing precursor to the unblocked surface;
and
exposing the semiconductor substrate to a nitrogen-containing reactant without igniting a plasma to form silicon nitride selectively on the unblocked surface relative to the blocked surface.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.