Atomic layer deposition method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10858736-B2
Application number	US-201615371068-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 6, 2016
Priority date	Dec 3, 2012
Publication date	Dec 8, 2020
Grant date	Dec 8, 2020

Abstract

An atomic layer deposition apparatus includes a chamber including a plurality of regions; and a heating device respectively providing specific temperature ranges for the plurality of regions. By flowing precursor gases at different flow rates in the different regions, thin films can be simultaneously formed in the different regions having different film thicknesses.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
providing a chamber having a plurality of heated regions; and
delivering a first precursor gas through first holes having a first size and a first shape, at a first gaseous flow rate in a first region to form a first material to a first thickness at a first deposition rate while simultaneously delivering the first precursor gas through second holes having a second size and a second shape at a second gaseous flow rate in a second region to form the first material to a second thickness different than the first thickness at a second deposition rate different than the first deposition rate, wherein the second size is different than the first size, the second shape is different than the first shape, or both the second size and second share are different than the first size and first shape, respectively; and
subsequent to the step of delivering first precursor gas, delivering a second precursor gas through the first holes at a third gaseous flow rate in the first region to form a second material at a third deposition rate while simultaneously delivering the second precursor gas through the second holes at a fourth gaseous flow rate in the second region to form the second material at a fourth deposition rate different than the third deposition rate.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the delivering step includes using at least two injectors to respectively inject the at least two depositing materials.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the at least two depositing materials have the same recipe.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the method comprises adjusting size of at least two holes to change the respective deposition thicknesses of respective atomic layers in the plurality of regions.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the method includes an atomic layer deposition process and further comprising selecting at least one from the plurality of regions to be at least one dummy region to stabilize the atomic layer deposition process.

6. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising providing a specific reaction cycle with a controllable process to cause a batch of wafers to be processed with at least two different deposition thicknesses.

7. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising performing a temperature tuning for the plurality of regions to control respective deposition rates therein.

8. A method comprising:
placing a first wafer into a first region of a chamber and a second wafer into a second region of the chamber, the second region being vertically offset from the first region;
heating the first region to a first predetermined temperature and heating the second region to a second predetermined temperature;
delivering a first precursor gas through first holes having a first size and a first shape, at a first gaseous flow rate in the first region to form a first material to a first thickness at a first deposition rate while simultaneously delivering the first precursor gas through second holes having a second size and a second shape at a second gaseous flow rate in the second region to form the first material to a second thickness different than the first thickness at a second deposition rate different than the first deposition rate, wherein the second size is different than the first size, the second shape is different than the first shape, or both the second size and second share are different than the first size and first shape, respectively; and
subsequent to the step of delivering first precursor gas, delivering a second precursor gas through the first holes at a third gaseous flow rate in the first region to form a second material at a third deposition rate while simultaneously delivering the second precursor gas through the second holes at a fourth gaseous flow rate in the second region to form the second material at a fourth deposition rate different than the third deposition rate.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
delivering an inert gas to purge the chamber after delivering the first precursor gas and before delivering the second precursor gas.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising: a cycle of repeating the steps of delivering first precursor gas, delivering a second precursor gas, and delivering an inert gas until a film of a desired thickness has been formed on the first wafer.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising introducing one or more dummy reaction cycles into the cycle of repeating the steps of delivering first precursor gas, delivering a second precursor gas, and delivering an inert gas, in which one or more dummy reaction cycles the first gaseous flow rate is reduced to zero and the third gaseous flow rate is reduced to zero.

12. The method of claim 8 , further comprising configuring conditions within the chamber such that the first material chemisorbs on a surface of the first wafer and on a surface of the second wafer.

13. The method of claim 8 , further comprising delivering the first precursor gas through an injector, the injector having a first plurality of holes in the first region and a second plurality of holes in the second region, wherein the first plurality of holes differs from the second plurality of holes by a geometric characteristic selected from the group consisting of hole size, hole shape, and hole area.

14. The method of claim 8 , further comprising heating a third region of the chamber, interjacent the first region and the second region, to a third predetermined temperature.

15. The method of claim 8 , further comprising monitoring temperature within the first region and the second region and tuning the temperature to ensure a film with a desired thickness is formed in the first region and the second region.

16. A method comprising:
providing a first wafer in a first region of a chamber and providing a second wafer in a second region of the chamber, the second region being vertically offset from the first region; and
forming in the first region a first film having a first thickness, and forming in the second region a second film having a second thickness different from the first thickness simultaneously with forming of the first film having the first thickness, the first film and second film having the same composition, by:
delivering a first precursor gas through a first injector having a first gas flow path, the first gas flow path including a first hole with a first geometric parameter and a second hole with a second geometric parameter different from the first geometric parameter, the first precursor gas being delivered at a first gaseous flow rate in the first region and simultaneously being delivered at a second gaseous flow rate in the second region; and
delivering a second precursor gas through a second injector having a second gas flow path, the second gas flow path including a third hole with a third geometric parameter and a fourth hole with a fourth geometric parameter different from the third geometric parameter, the second precursor gas being delivered at a third gaseous flow rate in the first region and being delivered at a fourth gaseous flow rate in the second region.

17. The method of claim 16 , further including delivering an inert gas into the chamber between delivering the first precursor gas and delivering the second precursor gas.

18. The method of claim 16 , further including heating the first region to a first predetermined temperature and heating the second region to a second predetermined region.

19. The method of claim 16 , wherein the first

Assignees

• Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg Co Ltd

Inventors

• Chuang Chia-Yi
• Lee Hsing-Jui
• Chen Ming-Te

Classifications

• H10P14/6339

  deposition by cyclic CVD, e.g. ALD, ALE or pulsed CVD · CPC title

• H10P14/60

  of insulating materials · CPC title

• C23C16/45574 Primary

  Nozzles for more than one gas · CPC title

• C23C16/45548

  having arrangements for gas injection at different locations of the reactor for each ALD half-reaction · CPC title

• H01J37/3244

  Gas supply means · CPC title