Formation of membranes with improved membrane quality

Abstract

A method includes depositing a flowable film on a substrate by providing a first input stream including a plasma effluent of a first precursor; removing a portion of the flowable film from a sidewall of a feature defined within the substrate by providing a second input stream to obtain a remainder of the flowable film, the second input stream comprising a plasma effluent of a second precursor; reducing the hydrogen content of the remainder of the flowable membrane by providing a third input stream to obtain a densified membrane, the third input stream comprising a plasma effluent of a third precursor; and treating the densified film according to a film treatment process.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Patent Application No. 17 / 873,597, filed on July 26, 2022, entitled “FORMING FILMS WITH IMPROVED FILMQUALITY,” which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Technical Field

[0003] The present technology relates to semiconductor processing. More particularly, the present technology relates to forming films with improved film quality. Background Art

[0004] An electronic device manufacturing system may include one or more processing chambers in which substrates are processed to manufacture electronic devices thereon (e.g., integrated circuits and / or flat panel displays). The processing chambers may operate at vacuum levels (e.g., ranging from about 0.01 torr to about 80 torr) and at elevated temperatures (e.g., ranging from about 100° C. to about 700° C.). The same or different substrate processing may occur in each processing chamber of the electronic device manufacturing system. Substrate processing may also occur in a load lock of some electronic device manufacturing systems. A load lock is a chamber through which substrates are transferred between a processing chamber and a factory interface for transport to elsewhere in the electronic device manufacturing system. Summary of the invention

[0005] According to another aspect, a method is provided. The method includes depositing a flowable film on a substrate by providing a first input flow, the first input flow comprising plasma effluents of a first precursor; removing a portion of the flowable film from a sidewall of a feature defined in the substrate by providing a second input flow to obtain a remaining portion of the flowable film, the second input flow comprising plasma effluents of a second precursor; reducing a hydrogen content of the remaining portion of the flowable film by providing a third input flow to obtain a densified film, the third input flow comprising plasma effluents of a third precursor; and treating the densified film according to a film treatment process.

[0006] According to another aspect, a system is provided. The system includes at least one system controller including a processor operably coupled to a memory. The at least one system controller is configured to cause a flowable film to be deposited on a substrate by causing a first input flow to be provided, the first input flow comprising plasma effluents of a first precursor; cause a portion of the flowable film to be removed from a sidewall of a feature defined in the substrate to obtain a remaining portion of the flowable film by causing a second input flow to be provided, the second input flow comprising plasma effluents of a second precursor; cause a hydrogen content of the remaining portion of the flowable film to be reduced to obtain a densified film by causing a third input flow to be provided, the third input flow comprising plasma effluents of a third precursor; and cause the densified film to be treated using a film treatment process.

[0007] According to yet another aspect, a system is provided. The system includes a process chamber including a first substrate support, a film processing chamber including a second substrate support, a transfer chamber coupled to the process chamber and the film processing chamber, wherein the transfer chamber houses a transfer robot, and at least one system controller operably coupled to the process chamber, the film processing chamber, and the transfer robot. The at least one system controller is configured to cause a transfer robot to load a substrate onto a first substrate support within a processing chamber, wherein the substrate includes features defined within the substrate; cause a flowable film to be deposited on the substrate within the processing chamber by causing a first input flow to be provided within a processing space of the processing chamber, the first input flow comprising plasma effluents of a first precursor; cause a portion of the flowable film to be removed from a sidewall of the feature within the processing chamber to obtain a remaining portion of the flowable film by causing a second input flow to be provided within the processing space, the second input flow comprising plasma effluents of a second precursor; cause a hydrogen content of the remaining portion of the flowable film to be reduced within the processing chamber to obtain a densified film by causing a third input flow to be provided within the processing space, the third input flow comprising plasma effluents of a third precursor; cause the transfer robot to transfer the substrate from the processing chamber to a film processing chamber and onto a second substrate support; and cause the densified film to be processed within the film processing chamber using a film processing process.

[0008] Other aspects, features and advantages of these and other embodiments according to the present disclosure will be readily apparent from the following detailed description, claims and drawings.Therefore, the drawings and descriptions herein are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, rather than restrictive. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] The drawings described below are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not necessarily drawn to scale. The drawings are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way.

[0010] FIG. 1 is a schematic top view of an electronic device manufacturing system according to some embodiments.

[0011] 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an illustrative processing chamber for selectively forming a film on a substrate in accordance with some embodiments.

[0012] FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a method for selectively forming a film on a substrate according to some embodiments.

[0013] 4A to 4C are schematic cross-sectional views of a substrate during a method for selectively forming a film on the substrate, according to some embodiments.

[0014] 5 is a schematic diagram of a membrane processing system according to some embodiments.

[0015] 6 is a flow chart of a method for forming a film with improved film quality according to some embodiments.

[0016] 7 is a diagram of a schematic cross-sectional view during a method for forming a film with improved film quality, according to some embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] Aspects of the present disclosure relate to forming films (e.g., silicon thin films) with improved film quality. Electronic devices (such as integrated circuits) are made possible by processes that produce complex patterned material layers on substrate surfaces. Producing patterned materials on substrates requires controlled methods for forming and removing exposed materials. As device sizes continue to shrink, material formation may affect subsequent operations. For example, in a gap fill operation, material may be formed or deposited to fill a trench or other feature formed on a semiconductor substrate. Because features may be characterized by a higher aspect ratio and a reduced critical dimension, these filling operations may be challenging. For example, because deposition may occur on top of a feature and along the sidewalls of a feature, continued deposition may pinch off the feature (including pinching off between sidewalls within a feature) and may create voids within the feature. This may affect device performance and subsequent processing operations.

[0018] Amorphous silicon can be used in many structures and processes in semiconductor device manufacturing, including as a sacrificial material, for example, as a dummy gate material, or as a trench fill material. In gap filling operations, some processes may utilize a flowable film formed under process conditions to limit the conformality of the deposition, which can allow the deposited material to better fill the features on the substrate. The flowable silicon material can be characterized by a relatively large amount of hydrogen and may not be as dense as other formed films. Therefore, subsequent processing operations can be performed to cure the produced film. Some embodiments may utilize a UV curing process to remove hydrogen and treat the film. However, UV curing can result in significant film shrinkage, which can cause stress on the features and create voids within the structure.

[0019] As feature sizes continue to shrink, flowable films may be challenging for narrow features, which may be further characterized by higher aspect ratios. For example, pinch-off of features may occur more easily due to deposition on feature sidewalls, which in small feature sizes may further restrict flow further into the feature and may create voids. Additionally, for processes where conversion of amorphous silicon may be performed, expansion of the sidewall material during conversion may further restrict access into the feature.

[0020] Aspects of the present disclosure address the above and other deficiencies by forming films with improved film quality. Embodiments described herein can selectively form films (e.g., thin films). More specifically, selectively forming a film can include depositing a flowable film using an appropriate deposition process, and removing a portion of the flowable film from the sidewalls using a dry etching process to obtain a remaining portion of the flowable film within the feature. The dry etching process can remove lower quality material from the sidewalls while maintaining denser material within the feature. In some embodiments, the dry etching process is a plasma etching process (e.g., a hydrogen (H2O) plasma etching process). 2 ) etching process). This can limit or prevent sidewall coverage during trench fill, thereby allowing an improved fill operation to be performed. Thus, during a selective deposition process, material can be formed in the feature that may not be performed for material deposited on the sidewalls.

[0021] In some embodiments, the film includes silicon (Si). For example, the film may be a Si film. The Si film may have a nitrogen (N) concentration of about 0%, a Si concentration of about 99%, and an oxygen (O) concentration of about 1%. In addition, assuming that a 1:500 dilute hydrofluoric acid (DHF) etchant is used for 60 seconds, the Si film may have a wet etch rate of less than about 8 angstroms (Å) per minute. The remaining portion of the Si film may have a thickness between about 5 nm and about 10 nm, and a sidewall thickness of less than about 2 nm.

[0022] The deposition process may be performed using any appropriate process window parameters. In some embodiments, the deposition process is performed at a temperature between about 25°C and about 100°C. More specifically, the temperature may be about 80°C. In some embodiments, the deposition process is performed at a source power between about 60 watts (W) and about 250 W. In some embodiments, the selective deposition process is performed at a bias power between about 100 W and about 200 W. In some embodiments, the deposition process is performed by a plasma pulse having a duty cycle between about 1% and about 99% and a frequency between about 1 Hertz (Hz) and about 20 Hz. In some embodiments, the deposition process is performed at a pressure between about 0.5 Torr and about 5 Torr. In some embodiments, the deposition process is performed for a time ranging from about 5 seconds (s) to about 15 s. More specifically, the deposition process may be performed for about 13 s.

[0023] The embodiments described herein may further process the film according to a film treatment process. The film treatment process may be used to incorporate materials within the film (e.g., the upper surface of the film). The treated film may have, for example, an improved wet etch rate relative to the wet etch rate of the film. The selective deposition process and the film treatment process may be performed in respective processing chambers (e.g., the film treatment process may be an ex-situ process).

[0024] In some embodiments, the film processing chamber is a plasma film processing chamber for performing a plasma film processing process. For example, the plasma film processing process can be an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) plasma film processing process. In some embodiments, the film processing chamber is a nitridation chamber to perform a nitridation process. For example, the film processing chamber can be a decoupled plasma nitridation (DPN) chamber to perform a DPN process, but the plasma used does not need to be "decoupled". For example, the film processing chamber can be a DPN chamber of a 300 mm DPN Centura® system available from Applied Materials, Inc. of Santa Clara, California.

[0025] During the DPN process, the film can be treated by implanting nitrogen into the film using a low energy pulsed plasma to produce the desired nitrogen concentration at the corresponding interface to maintain high channel mobility. The direct, high temperature wafer heating performed during the DPN process can produce the higher dose of nitrogen required for oxynitride gates at the 3X nm and 2X nm nodes while achieving improved leakage and threshold voltage performance. Other nitridation processes may be limited in achieving the desired leakage and threshold voltage.

[0026] For example, a DPN process may be used to form a silicon nitride material (e.g., Six N y ). The silicon nitride material formed using the DPN process described herein may have an improved wet etch rate relative to the Si film. For example, assuming a 1:500 DHF etchant for 60 seconds, the silicon nitride material may have a wet etch rate of less than about 4 Å per minute. In some embodiments, assuming a 1:500 DHF etchant for 60 seconds, the silicon nitride material has a wet etch rate of less than about 1 Å per minute. In some embodiments, assuming a 1:500 DHF etchant for 60 seconds, the silicon nitride material has a wet etch rate of about 0.6 Å per minute. The silicon nitride material may have an N concentration of about 55%, a Si concentration of about 45%, and an O concentration of about 0%.

[0027] The film treatment process may be performed using any appropriate process window parameters. Illustratively, in some embodiments, the DPN treatment may be performed at a temperature between about 200° C. and about 500° C. More specifically, the temperature may be about 450° C. In some embodiments, the DPN treatment is performed at a source power between about 100 W and about 250 W. More specifically, the source power may be about 150 W. In some embodiments, the DPN treatment is performed at a bias power between about 100 W and about 600 W. More specifically, the bias power may be about 400 W. In some embodiments, the DPN treatment is performed at a pressure between about 5 mTorr and about 100 mTorr. In some embodiments, the DPN treatment is performed for a time ranging from about 5 seconds (s) to about 15 s. More specifically, the DPN treatment may be performed for about 10 s.

[0028] The concentration of the substance (e.g., nitrogen) used to treat the film may decrease over time after treatment. To counteract this effect, a high temperature anneal may be performed immediately after the film treatment process. The high temperature anneal may be performed in a chamber separate from the film treatment process. For example, a high temperature anneal performed immediately after the film treatment process may be referred to as a post-nitridation anneal (PNA). PNA may also eliminate unstable bonding phases from the nitridation process, which may cause changes in threshold voltage. By reducing or removing this unstable bonding phase, PNA may help improve device performance.

[0029] FIG. 1 illustrates an electronic device manufacturing system 100 according to one or more embodiments. The electronic device manufacturing system 100 may perform one or more processes on a substrate 102. The substrate 102 may be any suitably rigid, fixed-size planar item suitable for manufacturing electronic devices or circuit components thereon, such as a disk or wafer containing silicon, a patterned wafer, a glass plate, or the like. In some embodiments, the substrate may be, for example, a 200 mm, 300 mm, or 450 mm diameter semiconductor wafer.

[0030] The electronic device manufacturing system 100 may include a processing tool 104 and a factory interface 106 coupled to the processing tool 104. The processing tool 104 may include a housing 108 having a transfer chamber 110 therein, and the transfer chamber 110 may have a transfer robot 112 housed within the transfer chamber 110. A number of processing chambers 114, 116, and 118 may be coupled to the housing 108 and the transfer chamber 110. A load lock 120 may also be coupled to the housing 108 and the transfer chamber 110. The transfer chamber 110, the processing chambers 114, 116, and 118, and the load lock 120 may be maintained at a vacuum level. The vacuum level of the transfer chamber 110 may range from, for example, about 0.01 torr to about 80 torr. Other vacuum levels may be used.

[0031] The transfer robot 112 may include a plurality of arms and one or more end effectors configured to transfer the substrate 102 to and from any processing chambers and load locks physically coupled to the transfer chamber 110 (note that the substrates 102 and substrate placement locations are shown as circles in FIG. 1 ).

[0032] The same or different substrate processing may occur on one or more substrates in each of the processing chambers 114, 116, and 118. Examples of substrate processing include selective film deposition (e.g., using atomic layer deposition (ALD), physical vapor deposition (PVD), chemical vapor deposition (CVD)), nitridation, etching, annealing, curing, pre-cleaning, metal or metal oxide removal, etc. Additional details regarding selective film deposition and nitridation that may be performed to improve film quality are described herein below with reference to FIGS. 2-6.

[0033] The load lock 120 may be configured to interface and couple with the transfer chamber 110 on one side and the factory interface 106 on the opposite side. The load lock 120 may have an environmentally controlled atmosphere that may be changed from a vacuum environment (where substrates may be transferred to and from the transfer chamber 110) to an atmospheric pressure inert gas environment (where substrates may be transferred to and from the factory interface 106).

[0034] In some embodiments, the load lock 120 may be a stacked load lock having a pair of upper chambers and a pair of lower chambers at different vertical levels (e.g., one above the other). In some embodiments, the pair of upper chambers may be configured to receive processed substrates from the transfer chamber 110 for removal from the processing tool 104, while the pair of lower chambers may be configured to receive substrates from the factory interface 106 for processing in the processing tool 104. In some embodiments, the load lock 120 may be configured to perform substrate processing (e.g., etching and / or pre-cleaning) on ​​one or more substrates 102 received therein.

[0035] The factory interface 106 may be any suitable housing, such as an equipment front end module or EFEM. The factory interface 106 may be configured to receive substrates 102 from substrate carriers 122 (e.g., which may be front opening wafer transfer boxes or FOUPs) docked at various loading ports 124 of the factory interface 106. A factory interface robot 126 (shown in phantom) may be used to transfer substrates 102 between the substrate carrier 122 and the load lock 120. Any suitable robot type may be used for the factory interface robot 126. The transfer may be performed in any order or direction. The factory interface 106 may be maintained in a non-reactive gas environment (e.g., using nitrogen as the non-reactive gas), for example, at a slightly positive pressure.

[0036] The movement of the transfer robot 112 and the factory interface robot 126 and the transfer of the substrate 102 within and / or between the processing chambers 114, 116, and 118; the load lock 120; the factory interface 106; and the substrate carrier 122 may be controlled by a motor drive system (not shown in FIG. 1), which may include a plurality of servo or stepper motors.

[0037] The electronic device manufacturing system 100 may also include at least one system controller 128. The system controller 128 may be coupled to each of the active hardware components to control their operation. The system controller 128 may include a programmable processor, a memory storing processor executable instructions / software programs / firmware, various support circuits, and input / output circuits. The system controller 128 may also be configured to permit entry and display of data, operating commands, and the like by a human operator.

[0038] The electronic device manufacturing system 100 may further include a motion controller 130. The motion controller 130 may include a programmable processor, a memory storing processor executable instructions / software programs / firmware, various support circuits, and input / output circuits. The motion controller 130 may operate in a closed-loop positioning control system (which may be referred to as a servo control system) to collect and process data from actuator (motion) devices within the electronic device manufacturing system 100 by using various devices that may be coupled to a network inside and outside the actuator (motion) drivers of the actuator (motion) devices for advanced supervisory tasks other than motor commutation. The motion controller 130 may operate independently of the system controller 128, may provide information to the system controller 128, and / or may be controlled by the system controller 128. Alternatively, the system controller 128 may perform the functions of the motion controller 130, and the motion controller 130 may be omitted from the electronic device manufacturing system 100.

[0039] While the semiconductor industry's process variability tolerance continues to decrease as the size of semiconductor devices shrinks, tightly controlled gaps between processing components need to be maintained during substrate processing (e.g., deposition, annealing, curing, etching, and or other film processing on substrates in a processing chamber or load lock).

[0040] The processing components may include a substrate support device and a processing conveyor device. The substrate support device may include a single-axis or multi-axis actuator (e.g., a motor) and may have a single-slot or multi-slot (two or more vertically) stacked substrate, which may have a lift, elevator, or indexer to transport and support the substrate. Various embodiments of the processing conveyor device may have an actuator that can be used to position the processing conveyor device (e.g., a pattern mask and / or plasma, gas or heat distribution assembly) inside a processing chamber or load lock. Examples of such components include cathode assemblies in etch processing chambers or load locks, heater pedestal assemblies and gas distribution nozzle assemblies in chemical vapor deposition and atomic layer deposition processing chambers, and substrate pattern mask assemblies in bevel etch processing chambers or load locks. Bevel edge etching can be used to remove undesirable portions of deposited films on edge regions of substrates.

[0041] 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an exemplary processing chamber ("chamber") 200 for selectively forming a film on a substrate according to some embodiments. For example, chamber 200 may be one of processing chambers 114 to 118 described above with reference to FIG. 1. Chamber 200 may be used to form a film layer according to some embodiments of the present technology, but it should be understood that the method may be similarly performed in any chamber in which film formation may occur. In some embodiments, chamber 200 may be used for methods that may include the formation, processing, etching, or conversion of materials for semiconductor structures. It should be understood that the chamber should not be considered limiting, and any chamber that can be configured to perform operations as described may be similarly used.

[0042] As shown in FIG. 2 , the chamber 200 may include a chamber body 202, a substrate support 204 disposed inside the chamber body 202, and a lid assembly 206 coupled to the chamber body 202 and enclosing the substrate support 204 in a processing space 220. A substrate 203 may be provided to the processing space 220 via an opening 226, which may be sealed using a slit valve or door for processing. During processing, the substrate 203 may be placed on a surface 205 of the substrate support 204. As indicated by arrow 245, the substrate support 204 may be rotated along an axis 247, where the shaft 244 of the substrate support 204 may be located. Alternatively, during a deposition process, the substrate support 204 may be lifted to rotate as needed.

[0043] The plasma profile modulator 211 may be disposed in the chamber 200 to control the plasma distribution on the substrate 203 disposed on the substrate support 204. The plasma profile modulator 211 may include a first electrode 208, which may be disposed adjacent to the chamber body 202 and may separate the chamber body 202 from other components of the lid assembly 206. The first electrode 208 may be part of the lid assembly 206, or may be a separate sidewall electrode. The first electrode 208 may be a toroidal or ring-shaped member, and may be a ring electrode. The first electrode 208 may be a continuous loop around the periphery of the processing chamber 200 (surrounding the processing volume 220), or may be discontinuous at selected locations as desired. The first electrode 208 may also be a perforated electrode, such as a perforated ring or mesh electrode, or may be a plate-shaped electrode, such as a secondary gas distributor.

[0044] One or more isolators 210a, 210b may be a dielectric material such as a ceramic or metal oxide (e.g., aluminum oxide and / or aluminum nitride) that may contact the first electrode 208 and electrically and thermally separate the first electrode 208 from the gas distributor 212 and from the chamber body 202. The gas distributor 212 may define an aperture 218 for distributing process precursors into the process volume 220. The gas distributor 212 may be coupled to a first electrical power source 242, such as an RF generator, an RF power source, a DC power source, a pulsed DC power source, a pulsed RF power source, or any other power source that may be coupled to the process chamber. In some embodiments, the first electrical power source 242 may be an RF power source.

[0045] The gas distributor 212 may be a conductive gas distributor or a non-conductive gas distributor. The gas distributor 212 may also be formed of conductive and non-conductive components. For example, the body of the gas distributor 212 may be conductive, while the panel of the gas distributor 212 may be non-conductive. The gas distributor 212 may be powered, such as by the first electrical power source 242 as shown in FIG. 2, or in some embodiments, the gas distributor 212 may be coupled to ground.

[0046] The first electrode 208 may be coupled to a first tuning circuit 228, which may control a ground path for the chamber 200. The first tuning circuit 228 may include a first electronic sensor 230 and a first electronic controller 234. The first electronic controller 234 may be or include a variable capacitor or other circuit element. The first tuning circuit 228 may be or include one or more inductors 232. The first tuning circuit 228 may be any circuit that achieves a variable or controllable impedance under plasma conditions present in the processing volume 220 during processing. In some embodiments as illustrated, the first tuning circuit 228 may include a first circuit branch and a second circuit branch coupled in parallel between ground and the first electronic sensor 230. The first circuit branch may include a first inductor 232A. The second circuit branch may include a second inductor 232B, which is coupled in series with the first electronic controller 234. The second inductor 232B may be disposed between the first electronic controller 234 and a node connecting the first and second circuit branches to the first electronic sensor 230. The first electronic sensor 230 may be a voltage or current sensor and may be coupled to a first electronic controller 234 , which may provide a degree of closed-loop control of the plasma conditions within the processing volume 220 .

[0047] The second electrode 222 may be coupled to the substrate support 204. The second electrode 222 may be embedded within the substrate support 204 or coupled to a surface of the substrate support 204. The second electrode 222 may be a plate, a perforated plate, a mesh, a wire mesh, or any other distributed arrangement of conductive elements. The second electrode 222 may be a tuning electrode and may be coupled to a second tuning circuit 236 through, for example, a conduit 246 (e.g., a cable having a selected resistance such as 50 ohms) disposed in a shaft 244 of the substrate support 204. The second tuning circuit 236 may have a second electronic sensor 238 and a second electronic controller 240, which may be a second variable capacitor. The second electronic sensor 238 may be a voltage or current sensor and may be coupled to the second electronic controller 240 to provide further control of the plasma conditions in the processing space 220.

[0048] The third electrode 224 may be coupled to the substrate support 204, and the third electrode 224 may be a bias electrode and / or an electrostatic clamping electrode. The third electrode may be coupled to the second electrical power source 250 via a filter 248, and the filter 248 may be an impedance matching circuit. The second electrical power source 250 may be DC power, pulsed DC power, RF bias power, pulsed RF source or bias power, or a combination of these or other power sources. In some embodiments, the second electrical power source 250 may be RF bias power.

[0049] The lid assembly 206 and substrate support 204 of FIG. 2 can be used with any processing chamber for plasma or thermal processing. In operation, the processing chamber 200 can provide real-time control of plasma conditions in the processing space 220. The substrate 203 can be placed on the substrate support 204, and the processing gas can flow through the lid assembly 206 using the inlet 214 according to any desired flow plan. The inlet 114 can include a delivery from a remote plasma source unit 216 (which can be coupled to the chamber fluid) and a bypass 217 for processing gas delivery, which in some embodiments may not flow through the remote plasma source unit 216. The gas can leave the chamber 200 via the outlet 252. Electrical power can be coupled to the gas distributor 212 to establish a plasma in the processing space 220. In some embodiments, the substrate can be electrically biased using a third electrode 224.

[0050] After the plasma is ignited in the processing space 220, a potential difference may be established between the plasma and the first electrode 208. A potential difference may also be established between the plasma and the second electrode 222. The electronic controllers 234, 240 may then be used to adjust the flow properties of the ground paths represented by the two tuning circuits 228 and 236. Set points may be delivered to the first tuning circuit 228 and the second tuning circuit 236 to provide independent control of the deposition rate and the uniformity of the plasma density from the center to the edge. In embodiments where the electronic controllers may both be variable capacitors, the electronic sensors may independently adjust the variable capacitors to maximize the deposition rate and minimize the thickness non-uniformity.

[0051] Each of the tuning circuits 228, 236 may have a variable impedance that may be adjusted using the respective electronic controllers 234, 240. In the case where the electronic controllers 234, 240 are variable capacitors, the capacitance range of each of the variable capacitors, as well as the inductance of the first inductor 232A and the second inductor 232B, may be selected to provide an impedance range. This range may depend on the frequency and voltage characteristics of the plasma, which may have a minimum value within the capacitance range of each variable capacitor. Thus, when the capacitance of the first electronic controller 234 is at a minimum or maximum value, the impedance of the first tuning circuit 228 may be high, resulting in a plasma shape with minimal aerial or lateral coverage over the substrate support. When the capacitance of the first electronic controller 234 is close to a value that minimizes the impedance of the first tuning circuit 228, the aerial coverage of the plasma may grow to a maximum value, effectively covering the entire working area of ​​the substrate support 204. When the capacitance of the first electronic controller 234 deviates from the minimum impedance setting, the plasma shape may shrink from the chamber wall and the aerial coverage of the substrate support may decrease. The second electronic controller 240 may have a similar effect, increasing and decreasing the aerial coverage of the plasma above the substrate support, as the capacitance of the second electronic controller 240 may be varied.

[0052] The electronic sensors 230, 238 may be used to tune the respective circuits 228, 236 in a closed loop. Depending on the type of sensor used, a set point for current or voltage may be installed in each sensor, and the sensors may be provided with control software that determines adjustments to each respective electronic controller 234, 240 to minimize deviations from the set point. Thus, the plasma shape may be selected and dynamically controlled during processing. It should be understood that while the foregoing discussion is based on electronic controllers 234, 240 that may be variable capacitors, any electronic component with an adjustable characteristic may be used to provide an adjustable impedance for the tuning circuits 228 and 236.

[0053] FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a method 300 for selectively forming a film on a substrate according to some embodiments. The method 300 may include a number of optional operations that may or may not be specifically associated with some embodiments of the method according to the present technology. For example, many of the operations are described in order to provide a broader scope of structure formation, but are not critical to the technology or may be performed by alternative methods that are easily understood. The method 300 may describe the operations schematically shown in FIGS. 4A to 4C , which will be described in conjunction with the operations of the method 300. It should be understood that the figures only illustrate partial schematic diagrams, and the substrate may contain any number of additional materials and features having the various characteristics and aspects illustrated in the figures.

[0054] The method 300 may include additional operations before initiating the enumerated operations. For example, the additional processing operations may include forming structures on the semiconductor substrate, which may include forming and removing materials. For example, a transistor structure, a memory structure, or any other structure may be formed. The previous processing operations may be performed in the chamber in which the method 300 may be performed, or the processing may be performed in one or more other processing chambers before the substrate is transported to the semiconductor processing chamber or several semiconductor processing chambers in which the method 300 may be performed. In any case, the method 300 may include loading the substrate into a processing chamber (such as, chamber 200 of Figure 2) or other chambers that may include components as described above. The substrate may be deposited on a substrate support, which may be a pedestal such as substrate support 204 of Figure 2, and which may reside in a processing area of ​​the processing chamber, such as, processing space 220 of Figure 2.

[0055] The substrate on which several operations have been performed may be substrate 405 of structure 400, which may show a partial view of a substrate on which semiconductor processing may be performed. It should be understood that structure 400 may only show a few top layers during processing to illustrate aspects of the present technology. Substrate 405 may include a material in which one or more features 410 may be formed. Substrate 405 may be any number of materials used for semiconductor processing. The substrate material may be or include silicon, germanium, a dielectric material (including silicon oxide or silicon nitride), a metallic material, or any number of combinations of these materials, which may be substrate 405 or a material formed in structure 400. According to the present technology, feature 410 may be characterized as any shape or configuration. In some embodiments, the feature may be or include a trench structure or a pore formed in substrate 405.

[0056] Although feature 410 may be characterized as any shape or size, in some embodiments, feature 410 may be characterized as having a relatively high aspect ratio, or a ratio of feature depth to width across the feature. For example, in some embodiments, feature 310 may be characterized as having an aspect ratio of greater than or about 5:1, and may be characterized as having an aspect ratio of greater than or about 10:1, greater than or about 15:1, greater than or about 20:1, greater than or about 25:1, greater than or about 30:1, greater than or about 40:1, greater than or about 50:1, or greater. Additionally, a feature may be characterized as having a narrow width or diameter across the feature (including between two sidewalls), such as a dimension of less than or about 20 nm, and may be characterized as having a width across the feature of less than or about 15 nm, less than or about 12 nm, less than or about 10 nm, less than or about 9 nm, less than or about 8 nm, less than or about 7 nm, less than or about 6 nm, less than or about 5 nm, or less.

[0057] In some embodiments, method 300 may include optional processing operations, such as pre-processing, which may be performed to prepare the surface of substrate 405 for deposition. After preparation, method 300 may include delivering one or more precursors to a processing region of a semiconductor processing chamber that houses structure 400. The precursors may include one or more silicon-containing precursors, and one or more diluents or carrier gases, such as an inert gas or other gas that is delivered along with the silicon-containing precursors. At operation 310, a plasma may be formed from the deposition precursors (e.g., silicon-containing precursors). The plasma may be formed in the processing region, which may allow the deposition material to be deposited on the substrate. For example, in some embodiments, a capacitively coupled plasma may be formed in the processing region by applying plasma power to a faceplate as previously described.

[0058] At operation 320, a flowable film may be deposited on the substrate. The deposited material of the flowable film may flow at least partially into the features on the substrate to provide a bottom-up type of gap filling. As shown in FIG. 4A, material 415 may be deposited on substrate 405 and may flow into grooves or features 410. As shown, material 415 may flow into the bottom of the feature, but a certain amount of material may remain on the sidewalls of the substrate (as shown with respect to material 417) and material may remain on the top of the feature or between the features (as shown with respect to material 419). Although the amount deposited may be relatively small, the remaining material on the sidewalls may limit subsequent flow. In addition, if a conversion of the deposited material is performed, such as conversion to silicon nitride, the conversion will involve expansion of the film, for example. For features with reduced size, the residual material formed on the sidewalls may be converted and expand outward toward the opposite sidewalls. This may cause the feature to be pinched off, thereby forming a void within the feature.

[0059] In some embodiments, the film includes a silicon material (e.g., amorphous Si). The silicon material may be formed from a plasma effluent containing a silicon precursor. For example, the film may be a Si film. The Si film deposited using the selective deposition process described herein may have a nitrogen (N) concentration of about 0%, a Si concentration of about 99%, and an oxygen (O) concentration of about 1%. In addition, assuming that a 1:500 DHF etchant is used for 60 seconds, the Si film deposited using the selective deposition process described herein may have a wet etch rate of less than about 8 angstroms (Å) per minute. The Si film deposited using the selective deposition process may have a bottom layer thickness between about 5 nm and about 10 nm, and a sidewall thickness of less than about 2 nm.

[0060] The selective deposition process may be performed using any suitable process window parameters. In some embodiments, the selective deposition process is performed at a temperature between about 25° C. and about 80° C. In some embodiments, the selective deposition process is performed at a source power between about 60 W and about 250 W. In some embodiments, the selective deposition process is performed at a bias power between about 100 W and about 200 W. In some embodiments, the selective deposition process is performed by a plasma pulse having a duty cycle between about 1% and about 99% and a frequency between about 1 Hertz (Hz) and about 20 Hz. In some embodiments, the selective deposition process is performed at a pressure between about 0.5 Torr and about 5 Torr.

[0061] The power applied during deposition may be a lower power plasma, which may limit dissociation, and which may maintain the amount of hydrogen incorporation in the deposited material. This incorporated hydrogen may contribute to the flowability of the deposited material. In addition, the present technology may incorporate a bias treatment, which may produce a treatment of the deposited film during the deposition operation. The treatment may include utilizing a source power (such as, coupled to a panel or showerhead as previously described), and utilizing a bias power (such as, applied via a substrate support as discussed above). The source power may be used to perform controlled dissociation of silicon-containing precursors, which may limit dissociation and allow for the formation of longer chains of material. Longer chains of silicon-containing materials may have increased flowability when these materials contact the substrate, which may improve bottom-up filling.

[0062] In some embodiments, to facilitate dissociation and deposition, the deposition precursor may include one or more inert gases, such as argon and / or helium, which may help improve dissociation. Additionally, in some embodiments, the deposition precursor may include diatomic hydrogen, which may flow to facilitate processing during deposition, and which may be assisted by a bias power supply. For example, hydrogen may be delivered along with the silicon-containing precursor at a flow rate ratio of greater than or about 0.5:1 of hydrogen to silicon-containing precursor, and may be delivered at a flow rate ratio of greater than or about 1:1, greater than or about 1.5:1, greater than or about 2:1, greater than or about 2.5:1, greater than or about 3.0:1, greater than or about 3.5:1, greater than or about 4.0:1, or greater.

[0063] These hydrogen and noble gas radical species can transfer energy to materials along surfaces orthogonal to the direction of travel, such as along the bottom of the feature and along the top of the feature, such as materials 415 and 419. The energy can help release excess hydrogen, which can densify the film at these locations. As depicted in FIG. 4B , while material 417 along the sidewalls may not be affected, or may have limited changes, materials 415 and 419 can be densified, which can improve the quality of the material. Thus, in some embodiments, the material along the top and bottom of the structure can be characterized as higher quality than the material deposited along the feature sidewalls, which can include increased density.

[0064] However, by utilizing bias power, the deposition plasma can be characterized by increased power, which can further dissociate the silicon-containing precursor and reduce flowability. Therefore, to limit this effect, the bias power can also be pulsed at a pulse frequency of less than or about 10 kHz, and can be pulsed at a frequency of less than or about 5 kHz, less than or about 1 kHz, less than or about 500 Hz, less than or about 100 Hz, less than or about 50 Hz, less than or about 10 Hz, or less. In addition, the duty cycle can be operated at less than or about 50%, and can be operated at less than or about 40%, less than or about 30%, less than or about 20%, less than or about 10%, less than or about 5%, or about 1%, which can further reduce the effect of the bias power. By operating the bias power at very low pulse frequencies and duty cycles, the bias power can be used to improve the film quality at the top of the structure and at the bottom of the feature, while limiting the impact on any other deposition characteristics. Additionally, by utilizing low power, the hydrogen may not be sufficiently excited to cause etching of deposited material, or result in sputtering of material upon bombardment by the inert gas effluent.

[0065] After a certain amount of deposition, in some embodiments, an etching process may be performed, which is configured to selectively etch back the formed material. This process may be performed in the same chamber as the deposition, and may be performed in a cyclic process to fill the features. In some embodiments, the flow of the silicon-containing precursor may be suspended, and the processing area may be purged. The flow of an inert gas, such as argon and / or helium, may also be suspended. After the purge, a hydrogen-containing precursor may flow into the processing area of ​​the processing chamber. In some embodiments, the etching process may include only a hydrogen-containing precursor, which may be diatomic hydrogen in some embodiments. A modified plasma (e.g., an etching plasma) may be formed at operation 330, which may also be a capacitively coupled plasma formed in the processing area, although in some embodiments, an inductively coupled plasma may be similarly applied.

[0066] Similar to the deposition process, during the etching operation, an additional power source may be engaged and coupled to the substrate support as previously described to provide a bias to the plasma generated above the substrate. Thus, the etching process may also include a source power and a bias power. This may draw plasma effluents to the substrate, which may bombard the film and cause densification of the deposited material, especially the material that has been at least partially modified by the processing performed during deposition. Although any hydrogen-containing material can be used, in some embodiments, diatomic hydrogen can be used as a hydrogen-containing precursor to generate the etching plasma. Hydrogen radicals and ions can easily penetrate the material formed in the groove and can release the incorporated hydrogen from the film, resulting in densification. The applied bias power can be relatively low to limit sputtering of the generated film and limit any potential damage to the structure. In addition, by adjusting the source power and the applied bias power, an etching operation can be performed that reduces the sidewall coverage of the deposited material while limiting the impact on the previously processed material.

[0067] Diatomic hydrogen or any other hydrogen-containing material may be used to generate a plasma in the processing region by delivering power from a plasma power source to the faceplate. In some embodiments, the plasma power may be greater than the plasma power used during deposition, from the source power and the bias power. For example, the plasma source power delivered may be greater than or about 100 W, and may be greater than or about 200 W, greater than or about 300 W, greater than or about 400 W, greater than or about 500 W, or greater. By increasing the plasma power during the formation of the processing plasma, a greater amount of plasma effluent may be generated. However, when the plasma power is increased, the amount of material etched from the bottom of the structure may also increase. Therefore, in some embodiments, the plasma source power may be maintained at less than or about 500 W, and may be maintained at less than or about 400 W, less than or about 300 W, or less. In addition, aspects of the bias power may also be adjusted. For example, in some processing operations, the bias power may be higher than the plasma source power, which may provide sufficient power to the plasma to ensure that etching of lower quality materials occurs, such as materials along the sidewalls that may not be processed during the deposition operation.

[0068] Applying a greater bias power can increase the ability of hydrogen to etch the deposited material. While the bias power during deposition can be reduced to limit the etching effects, during etching operations, the bias power (which can be any of the above frequencies) can be increased to greater than or about 500 W, and can be increased to greater than or about 800 W, greater than or about 1000 W, greater than or about 1200 W, greater than or about 1400 W, greater than or about 1600 W, greater than or about 1800 W, or greater. However, because the bias power can impart directionality, the bias power can be pulsed as discussed below, which can provide etching of lower quality materials while maintaining previously processed materials. At operation 340, the plasma effluent can then modify (e.g., etch) the flowable film, and portions of the flowable film can be removed from the sidewalls of the feature.

[0069] At the same time, and beneficially, the more directionally delivered plasma effluents can penetrate the remaining flowable film formed at the bottom of the feature, and can reduce hydrogen incorporation to densify the flowable film at optional operation 350. As depicted in FIG. 4C, material 417 can be removed from the sidewalls and overhanging regions of substrate 405, which can maintain the deposited material at the bottom region of the feature and along the top region of the structure. As an additional benefit, the densified material 419 at the top of the structure can also protect the underlying material from damage by limiting any impact on the material. The process can also provide reduced hydrogen incorporation in the remaining material, such as less than or about 40 atomic percent (at.%) hydrogen incorporation, and can provide reduced hydrogen incorporation of less than or about 35 at.%, less than or about 30 at.%, less than or about 25 at.%, less than or about 20 at.%, less than or about 15 at.%, less than or about 10 at.%, less than or about 5 at.%, or less.

[0070] By adjusting one or more characteristics of the supplied plasma power or bias power, additional adjustments may be made to further increase etching of deposited material along the feature sidewalls. For example, in some embodiments, the plasma power source and the bias power source may be operated in a continuous wave mode. Additionally, one or both of the power sources may be operated in a pulsed mode. In some embodiments, the source power may be operated in a continuous wave mode, while the bias power is operated in a pulsed mode. The pulsing frequency of the bias power may be any of the pulsing frequencies previously discussed. The duty cycle of the bias power may be less than or about 75%, and the bias power may be operated at a duty cycle of less than or about 70%, less than or about 60%, less than or about 50%, less than or about 40%, less than or about 30%, less than or about 20%, less than or about 10%, less than or about 5%, or less. By operating the bias power at a reduced duty cycle (such as, less than or about 50% on time), a greater amount of time per cycle may be used to perform a more isotropic etch within the feature, such as during the off time, which may better remove material from the sidewalls.

[0071] Additional power configurations may also include an amount of synchronization of the source power and bias power in a master / slave relationship. For example, both power supplies may be operated in a pulsed orientation, and the bias power may be synchronized to be turned on at each pulse after the source power has been turned on. A step-by-step pulsing scheme may also be applied. For example, during the period when the bias power is turned on, the source power may be operated at a first plasma power. During the remainder of the cycle in which the bias power is turned off, the source power may be operated at a second plasma power, which may be greater than the first plasma power. This may increase isotropic etching by removing the directionality induced by the bias, and may also increase the etching characteristics of the isotropic etching. In embodiments of the present technology, the deposition and etching processes may be repeated any number of times in a cycle to fill a feature, which may be filled with amorphous silicon.

[0072] Additionally, in some embodiments where silicon may seek to be transformed within a feature, the cycle may also include a transformation operation. By performing the transformation during each cycle, the problem of penetration through the feature may be completely resolved. Furthermore, by performing the transformation operation after curing and etching, the deposited material may be removed from the sidewalls prior to the transformation, which may limit film expansion laterally within the trenches or features between the sidewalls (as previously described). The transformation may be performed in a different chamber than the deposition and processing, although in some embodiments, two or more operations (including all operations) may be performed in a single processing chamber. This may reduce queue time compared to conventional processing.

[0073] The method 300 may also optionally include converting the flowable film at operation 360. For example, after etching and densification, one or more conversion precursors may be delivered to a processing area of ​​the chamber. For example, a nitrogen-containing precursor, an oxygen-containing precursor, and / or a carbon-containing precursor may be delivered to a processing area of ​​the chamber along with any carrier or diluent gas. A plasma may be formed from the conversion precursor, which may then contact the amorphous silicon material within the feature. The plasma effluent of the conversion precursor may interact with the amorphous silicon material within the trench and convert the material into silicon nitride, silicon oxide, silicon carbide, silicon oxynitride, silicon oxycarbide, silicon carbonitride, or silicon oxycarbonitride, along with any other material that may be used to convert the amorphous silicon film. The plasma power may be similar to the power previously described. For example, for a capacitively coupled system, the plasma power may be from about 100 W up to about 1,000 W or more, and up to 10 kW or more (for an inductively coupled plasma system), although any type of conversion may also be performed.

[0074] Although the deposit may be formed to be several nanometers or larger by performing an etching process as previously described, the thickness of the densified material may be controlled to be less than or about 500 Å thick, and may be less than or about 450 Å, less than or about 400 Å, less than or about 350 Å, less than or about 300 Å, less than or about 250 Å, less than or about 200 Å, less than or about 150 Å, less than or about 100 Å, less than or about 50 Å, or less. By controlling the thickness of the deposited material, conversion through the entire thickness may be more easily performed, and punch-through problems common in conventional processing may be resolved. After conversion of the deposited material, the process may then be completely repeated to continue to produce the converted material until the feature is penetrated.

[0075] With respect to the deposition precursors used during any of the formation operations, any number of precursors may be used in conjunction with the present techniques. Silicon-containing precursors that may be used during any silicon formation, silicon oxide formation, or silicon nitride formation may include, but are not limited to, silane (SiH 4 ), disilane (Si 2 H 6 ), trisilane or other organosilanes, including cyclohexasilane, silicon tetrafluoride (SiF 4 ), silicon tetrachloride (SiCl 4 ), dichlorosilane (SiH 2 Cl 2 ), tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS), and any other silicon-containing precursors that can be used for silicon-containing film formation. By utilizing higher order silanes, longer material chains can be produced, which can increase flowability in some embodiments. In some embodiments, the silicon-containing material can be nitrogen-free, oxygen-free, and / or carbon-free. The oxygen-containing precursors used in any operation as described throughout the present technology can include O 2 、N 2 O、NO 2 , O 3 , H 2 O, and any other oxygen-containing precursors that can be used for silicon oxide film formation or other film formation. The nitrogen-containing precursors used in any operation may include N 2 、N 2 O、NO 2 NH 3 、N 2 H 2 , and any other nitrogen-containing precursor that can be used for silicon nitride film formation. The carbon-containing precursor can be or include any carbon-containing material, such as any hydrocarbon, or any other precursor including carbon. In any of the operations, one or more additional precursors may be included, such as an inert precursor (which may include Ar, He, Xe, Kr), or other materials such as nitrogen, ammonia, hydrogen, or other precursors.

[0076] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a film processing system 500 according to some embodiments. The film processing system 500 includes a film processing chamber 502 to perform a film processing process. The film processing chamber 502 may include a chamber housing 506 adapted to surround a processing kit component, including a first electrode 508 disposed above a pedestal 510 that supports a substrate 512 during processing. The chamber housing 502 includes various inlets and outlets (not shown) provided to flow a processing gas and / or a coolant. The film processing system 500 may further include a system controller 504 coupled to the nitridation chamber (via one or more wires or cables, wirelessly, etc.). The system controller 504 may include one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, dedicated hardware, combinations thereof, or the like. In some embodiments, the system controller 504 is configured (e.g., programmed) to cause an erosive plasma treatment to be performed within the film processing chamber 502 before loading a substrate into the film processing chamber 502 for performing film processing on the substrate. Such an aggressive plasma step may be performed before processing each substrate (e.g., treating each substrate with a plasma) or after some other number of substrates have been processed in the chamber. The system controller 504 may also be adapted to control other processes, such as depending on the film processing process to be performed in the film processing chamber 502.

[0077] The film processing chamber 502 may include any suitable film processing chamber. In some embodiments, the film processing chamber 502 is a plasma film processing chamber, and the system controller 504 is configured to cause a plasma film processing process to be performed in the film processing chamber 502. For example, the plasma film processing process may be an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) plasma film processing process. In some embodiments, the film processing chamber 502 is a nitridation chamber, and the system controller 504 is configured to cause a nitridation process to be performed in the film processing chamber 502. For example, the film processing chamber 502 may be a decoupled plasma nitridation (DPN) chamber and the nitridation process may be a DPN process, although the plasma employed does not need to be "decoupled". For example, the film processing chamber 502 may be a DPN chamber of a 300 mm DPN Centura® system available from Applied Materials, Inc. of Santa Clara, California. Additional details regarding the film processing process performed in the film processing chamber 502 will be described below with reference to FIG. 6.

[0078] 6 is a flow chart of a method 600 for forming a film with improved film quality according to some embodiments. The method 600 may include a number of optional operations that may or may not be specifically associated with some embodiments of methods according to the present technology. For example, many of the operations are described in order to provide a broader scope of structure formation, but are not critical to the technology or may be performed by alternative methods as will be readily appreciated.

[0079] At operation 610, a substrate is loaded into a processing chamber of an electronic device manufacturing system. For example, at least one system controller may cause the substrate to be loaded into the processing chamber. More specifically, the at least one system controller may cause a transfer robot to load the substrate onto a substrate support within the processing chamber. For example, the electronic device manufacturing system may be the electronic device manufacturing system 100 of FIG. 1, the processing chamber may be one of the processing chambers 114, 116, 118 (e.g., the chamber 200 of FIG. 2), the transfer robot may be the transfer robot 112 of FIG. 1, and the at least one system controller may include the system controller 128 of FIG. 1.

[0080] At operation 620, a film is selectively formed on a substrate within a processing chamber. For example, at least one system controller may cause the film to be selectively formed on the substrate within the processing chamber. More specifically, at least one system controller may cause a flowable film (e.g., a Si film) to be deposited on the substrate by causing a first input flow to be provided within a processing space of the processing chamber, and may cause a portion of the flowable film to be removed (e.g., etched) from a sidewall of a feature of the substrate to obtain a remaining portion of the flowable film by causing a second input flow to be provided within the processing space. The first input flow may include plasma effluents of a first precursor, and the second input flow may include plasma effluents of a second precursor. In some embodiments, the first precursor is a silicon-containing precursor, and the second precursor is a hydrogen-containing precursor.

[0081] The deposition process may be performed using any appropriate process window parameters. In some embodiments, the deposition process is performed at a temperature between about 25°C and about 100°C. More specifically, the temperature may be about 80°C. In some embodiments, the deposition process is performed at a source power between about 60 W and about 250 W. In some embodiments, the selective deposition process is performed at a bias power between about 100 W and about 200 W. In some embodiments, the deposition process is performed by a plasma pulse having a duty cycle between about 1% and about 99% and a frequency between about 1 Hertz (Hz) and about 20 Hz. In some embodiments, the deposition process is performed at a pressure between about 0.5 Torr and about 5 Torr. In some embodiments, the deposition process is performed for a time ranging from about 5 s to about 15 s. More specifically, the deposition process may be performed for about 13 s.

[0082] Selectively forming the film may further include densifying the film. For example, at least one system controller may cause the remaining portion of the flowable film to be densified. More specifically, at least one system controller may cause the remaining portion of the flowable film to be reduced in hydrogen content by causing a third input flow to be provided within the processing space to obtain a densified film. The third input flow may include plasma effluent of a third precursor. In some embodiments, the third precursor is a hydrogen-containing precursor. Additional details about the selective film deposition process are described above with reference to Figures 1 to 4.

[0083] At operation 630, the substrate is transferred from the processing chamber to the film processing chamber. For example, at least one system controller may cause the substrate to be transferred from the processing chamber to the film processing chamber. More specifically, at least one system controller may cause the transfer robot to remove the substrate from the processing chamber, rotate to align with the film processing chamber, and place the substrate on a substrate support within the film processing chamber. For example, the film processing chamber may be one of the processing chambers 114, 116, 118 of FIG. 1 (e.g., film processing chamber 502 of FIG. 5).

[0084] At operation 640, the film is processed within the film processing chamber. For example, at least one system controller may cause the film to be processed within the film processing chamber according to the film processing process. More specifically, at least one system controller may cause the remaining portion of the flowable film to be processed within the film processing chamber according to the film processing process. In some embodiments, an aggressive plasma step is performed within the film processing chamber prior to performing the film processing process.

[0085] The film treatment process may include a plasma film treatment process. For example, the plasma film treatment process may be an ICP plasma film treatment process. In some embodiments, the film treatment chamber is a nitridation chamber, and the film treatment process includes a nitridation process. In some embodiments, the film treatment process may be a DPN process.

[0086] For example, a DPN process may be used to form a silicon nitride material (e.g., Si x N y ). Assuming a 1:500 DHF etchant for 60 seconds, the silicon nitride material formed using the DPN process described herein may have a wet etch rate of less than about 4 Å per minute. In some embodiments, assuming a 1:500 DHF etchant for 60 seconds, the silicon nitride material has a wet etch rate of less than about 1 Å per minute. In some embodiments, assuming a 1:500 DHF etchant for 60 seconds, the silicon nitride material has a wet etch rate of about 0.6 Å per minute. The silicon nitride material may have an N concentration of about 55%, a Si concentration of about 45%, and an O concentration of about 0%.

[0087] During the DPN process, the film may be implanted with nitrogen. For example, at least one system controller may cause a low energy, pulsed plasma to be introduced into the DPN chamber to produce a desired nitrogen concentration at the corresponding interface to retain high channel mobility. The at least one system controller may further cause direct high temperature heating to produce a higher dose of nitrogen for the oxynitride gate at the 3X nm and 2X nm nodes while achieving improved leakage and threshold voltage performance. Other nitridation processes may be limited in achieving the desired leakage and threshold voltage.

[0088] The film treatment process may be performed using any suitable process window parameters. Illustratively, to perform the DPN process, at least one system controller may cause the temperature of the DPN chamber to range between about 200° C. and about 500° C. More specifically, the temperature may be about 450° C. The at least one system controller may cause the source power to range between about 100 W and about 250 W. The at least one system controller may cause the bias power to range between about 100 W and about 600 W. The at least one system controller may cause the pressure of the DPN chamber to range between about 5 mTorr and about 100 mTorr. The at least one system controller may cause the DPN process to be performed for a time ranging between about 5 s and about 15 s. More specifically, the DPN process may be performed for about 10 s.

[0089] Any additional post-processing steps (e.g., deposition, etching, annealing) may be employed. For example, the concentration of a substance (e.g., nitrogen) used to treat the film may decrease over time after treatment. To counteract this effect, at least one system controller may cause a high temperature anneal to be performed immediately after the film treatment process. The high temperature anneal may be performed in a chamber separate from the film treatment process. For example, the high temperature anneal may be a PNA process performed after nitridation to eliminate unstable bonding phases that may cause threshold voltage changes. By reducing or removing this unstable bonding phase, PNA may contribute to improved device performance.

[0090] At operation 650, the substrate is removed from the film processing chamber. For example, at least one system controller may cause the substrate to be removed from the film processing chamber. More specifically, at least one system controller may cause a transfer robot to remove the substrate from the film processing chamber.

[0091] In some embodiments, the substrate may then be placed in another processing chamber for further post-processing processing. For example, at least one system controller may cause the substrate to be placed in the other processing chamber. More specifically, at least one system controller may cause a transfer robot to place the substrate in the other processing chamber.

[0092] In some embodiments, the substrate may then be placed in a load lock (e.g., load lock 120 of FIG. 1 ). For example, at least one system controller may cause the substrate to be placed in the load lock. More specifically, at least one system controller may cause a transfer robot to place the substrate in the load lock. Additional details regarding operations 610 to 650 are described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5 and will now be described below with reference to FIG. 7 .

[0093] FIG. 7 is a diagram 700 of a schematic cross-sectional view during a method for forming a film with improved film quality according to some embodiments. The diagram 700 shows a deposition step 710 and a film removal step 720. Steps 710 and 720 may be performed during operation 620 described above with reference to FIG. 6 . Step 720 may be performed in situ after step 710 (e.g., without exposing the substrate to air between step 710 and step 720). For example, during the deposition step 710, a flowable film 712 is deposited on a substrate, the substrate including features 714-1 and 714-2 and a bottom surface 716. During the film removal step 720, an etching process may be performed to remove a portion of the flowable film 712 and obtain a remaining portion 722 of the flowable film. Removing the portion of the flowable film 712 further exposes sidewalls of the features 714-1 and 714-2, including a sidewall 724 of the feature 714-1. The etching process may be a dry etching process (e.g., H 2 Plasma etching process). In some embodiments, the remaining portion 722 of the flowable film can be densified, as described in more detail above.

[0094] Diagram 700 further illustrates a film processing step 730. Step 730 may be performed during operation 640 described above with reference to FIG. 6. Step 730 may be performed ex situ after step 720. During the film processing step 710, the remaining portion 722 of the flowable film (e.g., the densified film) is processed to obtain a processed film 732. For example, the remaining portion 722 of the flowable film may be processed using a DPN process. Additional details regarding steps 710 to 730 are described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6.

[0095] In the foregoing description, for the purpose of explanation, numerous details have been set forth in order to provide an understanding of various embodiments of the present technology. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that certain embodiments may be practiced without some of these details or with additional details.

[0096] Several embodiments have been disclosed, and those skilled in the art will recognize that various modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents may be used without departing from the spirit of the embodiments. In addition, many well-known processes and elements are not described in order to avoid unnecessary obfuscation of the present technology. Therefore, the above description should not be considered to limit the scope of the present technology. In addition, methods or processes may be described as sequential or step-by-step, but it should be understood that the operations may be performed simultaneously or in an order different from that listed.

[0097] Where a range of values ​​is provided, it is understood that, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, each intermediate value between the upper and lower limits of this range (to the smallest fraction of the lower limit unit) is also specifically disclosed. Any narrower range between any specified value or intermediate value not specified in the specified range and any other specified or intermediate value in this specified range is covered. The upper and lower limits of these smaller ranges may be independently included in the range or excluded from the range, and are subject to any specific excluded limits in the specified range, wherein each range that includes any limit, does not include any limit, or includes two limits in the smaller range is also covered in the present technology. Where the specified range includes one or two limits, the range that excludes any or both of those included limits is also included.

[0098] As used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to "a precursor" includes a plurality of such precursors and reference to "the layer" includes reference to one or more layers and equivalents thereof known to those skilled in the art, and so forth.

[0099] Furthermore, when used in this specification and the following claims, the words “comprise(s)”, “comprising”, “contain(s)”, “containing”, “include(s)” and “including” are intended to specify the presence of stated features, integers, components or operations, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, components, operations, actions or groups.

Claims

1. A method comprising: depositing a film on a substrate by providing a first input flow, the first input flow comprising a plasma effluent of a first precursor; reducing the hydrogen content of the remaining portion of the film by providing a second input stream comprising plasma effluent of a second precursor to obtain a densified film; as well as removing a portion of the densified film from sidewalls of features defined in the substrate to obtain a remaining portion of the film by providing a third input flow, the third input flow comprising plasma effluent of a third precursor; as well as The remaining portion of the film is processed according to a film processing process.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the depositing, the removing, and the reducing are performed in a processing chamber, and wherein the processing is performed in a film processing chamber different from the processing chamber. 3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the second precursor or the third precursor comprises a hydrogen-containing precursor. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first precursor comprises a silicon-containing precursor and the film comprises silicon.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the depositing is performed using a set of process window parameters, and wherein the set of process window parameters comprises at least one of: at a temperature between about 25°C and about 100°C; A source power between about 60 watts (W) and about 250 W; a bias power between about 100 W and about 2000 W; plasma pulses having a duty cycle between about 1% and about 99% and a frequency between about 1 Hertz (Hz) and about 20 Hz; A pressure between about 0.5 Torr and about 100 Torr; or A time between about 5 seconds (s) to about 15 s.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the film treatment process is a decoupled plasma nitridation (DPN) process performed using a set of process window parameters to achieve a wet etch rate of less than about 4 angstroms per minute.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the set of processing window parameters comprises at least one of: at a temperature between about 200°C and about 500°C; A source power between about 100 Watts (W) and about 250 W; a bias power between about 100 W and about 600 W; A pressure between about 5 mTorr and about 100 mTorr; or A time between about 5 seconds (s) to about 15 s.

8. A system comprising: at least one system controller including a processor operably coupled to the memory and configured to: causing deposition of a film on a substrate by causing provision of a first input flow, the first input flow comprising plasma effluents of a first precursor; causing a reduction in the hydrogen content of a remaining portion of the film to obtain a densified film by providing a second input flow, the second input flow comprising plasma effluent of a second precursor; as well as causing a portion of the densified film to be removed from sidewalls of features defined in the substrate by providing a third input flow comprising plasma effluent of a third precursor to obtain a remaining portion of the film; The remaining portion of the film is caused to be processed according to a film processing process.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the at least one system controller is configured to: causing deposition of the film on the substrate within a processing chamber; causing the hydrogen content of the film to be reduced within the processing chamber to obtain the densified film; causing removal of the portion of the densified film from the sidewall of the feature within the processing chamber; as well as The remaining portion of the film is caused to be processed according to a film processing process in a film processing chamber different from the processing chamber.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein at least one of the second precursor or the third precursor comprises a hydrogen-containing precursor.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the first precursor comprises a silicon-containing precursor and the film comprises silicon.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein the film is deposited using a set of process window parameters, and wherein the set of process window parameters includes at least one of: at a temperature between about 25°C and about 100°C; A source power between about 60 watts (W) and about 250 W; a bias power between about 100 W and about 2000 W; plasma pulses having a duty cycle between about 1% and about 99% and a frequency between about 1 Hertz (Hz) and about 20 Hz; A pressure between about 0.5 Torr and about 100 Torr; or A time between about 5 seconds (s) to about 15 s.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein the film treatment process is a decoupled plasma nitridation (DPN) process performed using a set of process window parameters to achieve a wet etch rate of less than about 4 angstroms per minute.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the set of processing window parameters comprises at least one of: at a temperature between about 200°C and about 500°C; A source power between about 100 Watts (W) and about 250 W; a bias power between about 100 W and about 600 W; A pressure between about 5 mTorr and about 100 mTorr; or A time between about 5 seconds (s) to about 15 s.

15. An electronic device manufacturing system, comprising: a processing chamber including a first substrate support; a film processing chamber including a second substrate support; a transfer chamber coupled to the processing chamber and the film processing chamber, wherein the transfer chamber houses a transfer robot; and At least one system controller operably coupled to the process chamber, the membrane processing chamber, and the transfer robot, configured to: causing the transfer robot to load a substrate onto the first substrate support within the processing chamber, wherein the substrate includes features defined within the substrate; causing deposition of a film on the substrate within the processing chamber by providing a first input flow within a processing volume of the processing chamber, the first input flow comprising plasma effluent of a first precursor; causing a reduction in the hydrogen content of the film within the processing chamber to obtain a densified film by providing a second input flow within the processing volume, the second input flow comprising plasma effluent of a second precursor; causing a portion of the densified film to be removed from a sidewall of the feature within the processing chamber to obtain a remaining portion of the film by providing a third input flow within the processing volume, the third input flow comprising plasma effluent of a third precursor; causing the transfer robot to transfer the substrate from the processing chamber to the film processing chamber and onto the second substrate support; as well as The densified membrane is caused to be processed in the membrane processing chamber according to a membrane processing process.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the first precursor comprises a silicon-containing precursor and the film comprises silicon.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein at least one of the second precursor or the third precursor comprises a hydrogen-containing precursor.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the film is deposited using a set of process window parameters, and wherein the set of process window parameters includes at least one of: at a temperature between about 25°C and about 100°C; A source power between about 60 watts (W) and about 250 W; a bias power between about 100 W and about 2000 W; plasma pulses having a duty cycle between about 1% and about 99% and a frequency between about 1 Hertz (Hz) and about 20 Hz; A pressure between about 0.5 Torr and about 100 Torr; or A time between about 5 seconds (s) to about 15 s.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the film treatment process is a DPN process performed using a set of process window parameters to achieve a wet etch rate of less than about 4 angstroms per minute.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the set of processing window parameters includes at least one of: at a temperature between about 200°C and about 500°C; A source power between about 100 Watts (W) and about 250 W; a bias power between about 100 W and about 600 W; A pressure between about 5 mTorr and about 100 mTorr; or A time between about 5 seconds (s) to about 15 s.

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