Complexing Gas Etching for Transition Metal Films
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current semiconductor manufacturing techniques face challenges in achieving high processing accuracy and efficiency due to defects such as material diffusion and uneven etching surfaces when processing multilayer films with different materials, particularly at high temperatures, and are limited in applicability to non-noble transition metal elements.
Innovation Solution
A semiconductor manufacturing method using a complexing gas to adsorb an organic compound on a transition metal-containing film, converting it into a thermally stable organometallic complex through heating, which suppresses surface roughness and enables efficient etching at lower temperatures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If high temperature heating is applied to process multilayer films, then etching speed is improved, but material diffusion and position shift occur causing defects
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the chemical parameters of the etching process by introducing a complexing gas that forms volatile organometallic complexes. This allows the etching reaction to proceed at lower temperatures (reducing thermal diffusion) while maintaining effective etching through the volatility-driven removal of metal complexes, thus resolving the contradiction between etching speed and position accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The complexing gas acts as an intermediary substance that mediates the etching process. It forms intermediate organometallic complexes with the metal films that are highly volatile, enabling the etching reaction to occur at lower temperatures without requiring high thermal energy, thereby preventing material diffusion while maintaining etching effectiveness.
2Productivity
If high temperature heating is applied to process multilayer films, then etching reaction is enhanced, but thermal expansion differences cause film position shift
Solution Approach 1:
The invention fundamentally changes the temperature parameter from high to low by utilizing the volatility of organometallic complexes. The etching reaction proceeds through chemical complexation followed by volatile product formation and removal, which occurs effectively at lower temperatures, thereby preventing thermal expansion-induced position shifts while maintaining etching reaction rates.
3Ease of manufacture
If conventional etching methods are used, then processing is simpler, but applicability is limited to noble metal elements
Solution Approach 1:
The invention achieves universality by developing a complexing gas-based etching method that works with multiple types of metal elements including noble metals, non-noble transition metals, and other metals. The mechanism of forming volatile organometallic complexes is broadly applicable across different metal types, making the process versatile while maintaining relative simplicity through a unified approach.
Solution Approach 2:
The complexing gas serves as a universal intermediary that can form volatile complexes with various metal elements. This intermediary mechanism transcends the limitations of conventional methods that work only with specific noble metals, enabling the same etching approach to be applied to a wide range of metal materials including Co, Ni, Cu, and other transition metals.
4Productivity
If acetate of transition metal is used for etching, then volatility enables removal, but thermal decomposition causes residue formation
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the chemical composition parameter of the volatile product from simple acetates to organometallic complexes with specific molecular structures. These complexes are designed to have both high volatility for efficient removal and high thermal stability to prevent decomposition, thus maintaining etching efficiency while achieving surface uniformity without residue.
Solution Approach 2:
The organometallic complexes formed in this invention can be considered composite structures combining metal centers with organic ligands. This composite structure provides both the volatility needed for efficient etching removal and the thermal stability required to prevent decomposition and residue formation, resolving the contradiction between etching efficiency and surface uniformity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This method achieves high processing accuracy and efficiency by forming a stable organometallic complex that maintains volatility, reducing surface roughness and expanding the applicability to various transition metal elements beyond noble metals.
Implementation Method 1
supplying a complexing gas into a treating chamber, to adsorb an organic compound as a component of the complexing gas to the transition metal-containing film
Implementation Method 2
react the organic compound with the transition metal element, thereby converting the organic compound into an organometallic complex
Implementation Method 3
heating the wafer in which the organic compound is adsorbed to the transition metal-containing film, to react the organic compound with the transition metal element, thereby converting the organic compound into an organometallic complex, and desorbing the organometallic complex
Implementation Method 4
heating the wafer in which the organic compound is adsorbed to the transition metal-containing film
Data Source
AI summary
A semiconductor manufacturing method using a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 100 including a treating chamber 1, the method including: a first process of supplying a complexing gas into the treating chamber in which a wafer 2 having a surface having a transition metal-containing film formed thereon is placed, to adsorb an organic compound as a component of the complexing gas to the transition metal-containing film, the transition metal-containing film containing a transition metal element; and a second process of heating the wafer in which the organic compound is adsorbed to the transition metal-containing film, to react the organic compound with the transition metal element, thereby converting the organic compound into an organometallic complex, and desorbing the organometallic complex, wherein the organic compound has Lewis basicity, and is a multidentate ligand molecule capable of forming a bidentate or more coordination bond with the transition metal element.