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Apparatus and process for plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition

a technology of atomic layer deposition and apparatus, which is applied in the direction of chemical vapor deposition coating, solid-state devices, coatings, etc., can solve the problems of many limitations of pe-ald processes, slow deposition rate of processes, and inability to meet the requirements of production

Inactive Publication Date: 2007-05-31
APPLIED MATERIALS INC
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The invention provides an apparatus for forming materials during a plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PE-ALD) process. The apparatus includes a chamber body and a chamber lid assembly. The chamber body has a substrate support and a showerhead assembly with a plasma screen. The showerhead assembly has a plasma baffle and a water box. The chamber lid assembly contains insulated components, such as an insulation cap, a plasma screen, and an isolation ring. The plasma screen has openings to direct the flow of process gases. The apparatus can create a plasma and direct it to the substrate surface for deposition. The technical effect of the invention is to provide an improved method for depositing materials during a PE-ALD process.

Problems solved by technology

While conventional chemical vapor deposition (CVD) has proved successful for device geometries and aspect ratios down to 0.15 μm, the more aggressive device geometries require an alternative deposition technique.
While thermal ALD processes work well to deposit some materials, the processes often have a slow deposition rate.
Therefore, fabrication throughput may be impacted to an unacceptable level.
While PE-ALD processes overcome some of the shortcomings of thermal ALD processes due to the high degree of reactivity of the reactant radicals within the plasma, PE-ALD processes have many limitations.
PE-ALD process may cause plasma damage to a substrate (e.g., etching), be incompatible with certain chemical precursors and require additional hardware.

Method used

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  • Apparatus and process for plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition
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  • Apparatus and process for plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition

Examples

Experimental program
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Effect test

experiment 1

[0178] (DMPD)2Ru with constant flow of NH3 and intermediate plasma—The ruthenium precursor used during this experiment was bis(2,4-dimethylpentadienyl)ruthenium ((DMPD)2Ru). During the experiment, the pressure within the process chamber was maintained at about 2 Torr and the substrate was heated to about 300° C. An ALD cycle included the following steps. A ruthenium precursor gas was formed by passing a nitrogen carrier gas with a flow rate of about 500 sccm through an ampoule of (DMPD)2Ru heated at a temperature of about 80° C. The substrate was exposed to the ruthenium precursor gas with a flow rate of about 500 sccm and ammonia gas with a flow rate of about 1,500 sccm for about 3 seconds. The flow of the ruthenium precursor gas was stopped while the flow of the ammonia gas was maintained during a purge step. The purge step was conducted for about 2 seconds. Subsequently, a plasma was ignited to form an ammonia plasma from the ammonia gas while maintaining the flow rate. The RF g...

experiment 2

[0179] (MeCp)(EtCp)Ru with constant flow of NH3 and intermediate plasma—The ruthenium precursor used during this experiment was methylcyclopentadienyl ethylcyclopentadienyl ruthenium ((MeCp)(EtCp)Ru). During the experiment, the pressure within the process chamber was maintained at about 2 Torr and the substrate was heated to about 300° C. An ALD cycle included the following steps. A ruthenium precursor gas was formed by passing a nitrogen carrier gas with a flow rate of about 500 sccm through an ampoule of (MeCp)(EtCp)Ru heated at a temperature of about 80° C. The substrate was exposed to the ruthenium precursor gas with a flow rate of about 500 sccm and ammonia gas with a flow rate of about 1,500 sccm for about 3 seconds. The flow of the ruthenium precursor gas was stopped while the flow of the ammonia gas was maintained during a purge step. The purge step was conducted for about 2 seconds. Subsequently, a plasma was ignited to form an ammonia plasma from the ammonia gas while mai...

experiment 3

[0180] (MeCp)(Pv)Ru with constant flow of NH3 and intermediate plasma—The ruthenium precursor used during this experiment was methylcyclopentadienyl pyrrolyl ruthenium ((MeCp)(Py)Ru). During the experiment, the pressure within the process chamber was maintained at about 2 Torr and the substrate was heated to about 300° C. An ALD cycle included the following steps. A ruthenium precursor gas was formed by passing a nitrogen carrier gas with a flow rate of about 500 sccm through an ampoule of (MeCp)(Py)Ru heated at a temperature of about 80° C. The substrate was exposed to the ruthenium precursor gas with a flow rate of about 500 sccm and ammonia gas with a flow rate of about 1,500 sccm for about 3 seconds. The flow of the ruthenium precursor gas was stopped while the flow of the ammonia gas was maintained during a purge step. The purge step was conducted for about 2 seconds. Subsequently, a plasma was ignited to form an ammonia plasma from the ammonia gas while maintaining the flow r...

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Abstract

Embodiments of the invention provide an apparatus configured to form a material during an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process, such as a plasma-enhanced ALD (PE-ALD) process. In one embodiment, a process chamber is configured to expose a substrate to a sequence of gases and plasmas during a PE-ALD process. The process chamber comprises components that are capable of being electrically insulated, electrically grounded or RF energized. In one example, a chamber body and a gas manifold assembly are grounded and separated by electrically insulated components, such as an insulation cap, a plasma screen insert and an isolation ring. A showerhead, a plasma baffle and a water box are positioned between the insulated components and become RF hot when activated by a plasma generator. Other embodiments of the invention provide deposition processes to form layers of materials within the process chamber.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims benefit of co-pending U.S. Ser. No. 60 / 733,870 (10429L), filed Nov. 4, 2005, U.S. Ser. No. 60 / 733,655 (10429L.02), filed Nov. 4, 2005, U.S. Ser. No. 60 / 733,654 (10429L.03), filed Nov. 4, 2005, U.S. Ser. No. 60 / 733,574 (10429L.04), filed Nov. 4, 2005, and U.S. Ser. No. 60 / 733,869 (10429L.05), filed Nov. 4, 2005, which are all incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] Embodiments of the invention generally relate to an apparatus and a method for depositing materials, and more particularly to an atomic layer deposition chamber configured to deposit a material during a plasma-enhanced process. [0004] 2. Description of the Related Art [0005] In the field of semiconductor processing, flat-panel display processing or other electronic device processing, vapor deposition processes have played an important role in depositing materials on substrate...

Claims

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Application Information

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Patent Type & Authority Applications(United States)
IPC IPC(8): C23C16/00
CPCC23C16/18C23C16/45536H01L2924/0002C23C16/45542C23C16/45544C23C16/45553C23C16/45563C23C16/45565C23C16/509C23C16/5096H01J37/32082H01J37/3244H01J37/32449H01J37/32522H01J37/32623H01J37/32633H01L21/28562H01L21/76844H01L21/76846H01L21/76873H01L2221/1089H01L2924/00
Inventor MA, PAULSHAH, KAVITAWU, DIEN-YEHGANGULI, SESHADRIMARCADAL, CHRISTOPHEWU, FREDERICK C.CHU, SCHUBERT S.
Owner APPLIED MATERIALS INC
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