Sputtering Showerhead for Integrated CVD PVD Deposition
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing deposition processes for semiconductor fabrication, which involve separate chambers for chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and physical vapor deposition (PVD), face challenges in achieving uniformity due to contamination and impurity issues when transitioning between these processes, particularly when depositing alternating layers of oxide and metal.
Innovation Solution
A vapor deposition chamber equipped with a sputtering showerhead assembly that can perform both CVD and PVD, featuring a faceplate with gas passages, a backing plate, and magnetrons, allowing for the simultaneous deposition of oxide and metal layers on a substrate while minimizing contamination by confining plasma and using RF energy for uniformity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If separate chambers are used for CVD and PVD processes, then each process can be performed with optimized conditions, but contamination and impurity issues occur during substrate transition between chambers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines both CVD and PVD processes into a single deposition chamber. The showerhead assembly can perform both chemical vapor deposition and physical vapor deposition without requiring substrate transfer between chambers, thereby eliminating contamination risks during transition while maintaining process optimization through configurable gas delivery and power delivery systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The showerhead assembly is designed with multi-functionality to support both CVD and PVD processes. It includes gas delivery mechanisms for CVD and sputtering capabilities for PVD, allowing a single chamber to perform multiple deposition functions without compromising the quality of either process.
2Manufacturing precision
If alternating layers of oxide and metal are deposited using separate chambers, then material-specific process conditions can be optimized, but non-uniformity occurs due to contamination during transitions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple deposition functions into a single chamber with a configurable showerhead assembly. The system can switch between CVD for oxide layers and PVD for metal layers within the same chamber environment, maintaining film uniformity while avoiding the complexity of coordinating multiple separate chambers and substrate transfer mechanisms.
3Productivity
If a single chamber performs both CVD and PVD, then substrate transfer is eliminated reducing contamination, but process condition optimization becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The showerhead assembly is designed as a universal component that can deliver both process gases for CVD and serve as a sputtering target for PVD. The system includes independent control mechanisms for gas flow, RF power, and DC bias, allowing optimal process conditions for either CVD or PVD to be achieved within the same chamber without compromising deposition efficiency.
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 solution enables efficient and uniform deposition of multiple layers of oxide and metal on semiconductor substrates, reducing contamination and non-uniformity issues, and allowing for cost-effective and time-efficient semiconductor processing.
Implementation Method 1
A PVD process includes sputtering a target comprising a source material with ions generated in a plasma region
Implementation Method 2
sputtering a target comprising a source material with ions generated in a plasma region, causing ejected source material to travel to a substrate
Implementation Method 3
Process gases are used to deposit films on the substrate in a CVD chamber
Data Source
AI summary
In one implementation, a sputtering showerhead assembly is provided. The sputtering showerhead assembly comprises a faceplate comprising a sputtering surface comprising a target material and a second surface opposing the sputtering surface, wherein a plurality of gas passages extend from the sputtering surface to the second surface. The sputtering showerhead assembly comprises further comprises a backing plate positioned adjacent to the second surface of the faceplate. The backing plate comprises a first surface and a second surface opposing the first surface. The sputtering showerhead assembly has a plenum defined by the first surface of the backing plate and the second surface of the faceplate. The sputtering showerhead assembly comprises further comprises one or more magnetrons positioned along the second surface of the backing plate.