Metal Nitride Film Formation with Plasma-Tuned Selective Etching
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current film deposition methods, such as ALD, face challenges in achieving conformal, continuous, and compositionally controlled films on high aspect structures due to lack of continuity, conformality, and thickness control, leading to hydrogen contamination and different carbon bonding states.
Innovation Solution
The method involves selective deposition of ALD films using sequential exposure to silicon precursors and nitrogen-containing reactants, followed by directional plasma treatments to create films with varying wet etch rates, allowing for selective removal of specific film layers on substrates with features like top, bottom, and sidewalls.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional CVD or PVD processes are used for film deposition, then deposition speed is improved, but film conformality and continuity deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The deposition process is segmented into multiple sequential ALD cycles, each depositing a thin layer with precise thickness control. This segmentation allows the film to be built up layer by layer, ensuring conformality on high aspect structures while maintaining overall deposition productivity through process optimization.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs parameter changes by adjusting deposition temperature, pressure, and reactant flow rates during ALD cycles to optimize both deposition speed and film conformality. By dynamically controlling these parameters, the process achieves high deposition rates while maintaining atomic-level thickness control and conformal coverage.
2Manufacturing precision
If ALD process is used for conformal deposition, then film conformality is improved, but deposition productivity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements continuous ALD processing by eliminating chamber evacuations between deposition steps and using in-situ plasma treatments. This continuity maintains vacuum conditions throughout the process, allowing multiple ALD cycles to be performed without breaking the vacuum, thereby significantly improving deposition productivity while preserving film conformality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the deposition and plasma treatment steps into a single continuous ALD cycle performed in the same chamber without vacuum breaking. This combination eliminates idle time between steps and integrates multiple functions into a unified process, enhancing overall deposition speed while maintaining the conformal quality characteristic of ALD.
3Adaptability or versatility
If selective deposition is attempted with conventional processes, then material selectivity is improved, but film quality and composition control deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by using directional plasma treatment to selectively modify specific regions of the deposited film. The plasma is directed at particular surfaces or features, creating locally differentiated film properties such as varying etch rates or surface compositions, while maintaining overall film quality and compositional control through precise plasma parameter management.
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 approach enables conformal deposition with controlled film properties, allowing for precise removal of layers, enhancing film quality and reducing defects, particularly in semiconductor processing.
Implementation Method 1
sequential exposure of the substrate to a silicon precursor and a nitrogen containing reactant to form a first silicon nitride film on the substrate
Implementation Method 2
The first silicon nitride film is treated with a first directional plasma
Implementation Method 3
The first silicon nitride film is treated with a first directional plasma to form a second silicon nitride film. The second silicon nitride film has a lower wet etch rate than the first silicon nitride film after treatment with the first directional plasma
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments of the disclosure include methods of forming a film comprising conformally depositing a first film on a substrate; treating the first film with a first plasma to form a second film; treating the second film with a second plasma to form a third film; and selectively removing the first film, a portion of the second film, and the third film.