Modulating film properties by optimizing plasma coupling materials

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11270905-B2
Application number	US-202016913969-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 26, 2020
Priority date	Jul 1, 2019
Publication date	Mar 8, 2022
Grant date	Mar 8, 2022

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to a substrate processing chamber, and components thereof, for forming semiconductor devices. The processing chamber comprises a substrate support, and an edge ring is disposed around the substrate support. The edge ring comprises a material selected from the group consisting of quartz, silicon, cross-linked polystyrene and divinylbenzene, polyether ether ketone, Al2O3, and AlN. The material of the edge ring is selected to modulate the properties of hardmask films deposited on substrates in the processing chamber. As such, hardmask films having desired film properties can be deposited in the processing chamber without scaling up the RF power to the chamber.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for modulating properties of one or more hardmask films, comprising:
depositing a first hardmask film on a first substrate and processing the first substrate at a first RF power;
measuring one or more film properties of the first hardmask film;
removing the first substrate from a substrate support;
swapping a first edge ring in the substrate support for a second edge ring, the second edge ring comprising a material selected from the group consisting of quartz, silicon, cross-linked polystyrene and divinylbenzene, polyether ether ketone, Al 2 O 3 , and AlN;
placing a second substrate on the substrate support;
depositing a second hardmask film on the second substrate and processing the second substrate at the first RF power; and
measuring the one or more film properties of the second hardmask film.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second hardmask film has a change in modulus different than the first hardmask film of at least about 20%, and wherein the second hardmask film has a change in stress different than the first hardmask film of less than about 5%.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second hardmask film has a change in stress different than the first hardmask film of at least about 20%, and wherein the second hardmask film has a change in modulus different than the first hardmask film of less than about 5%.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first edge ring comprises a different material than the second edge ring, and the first hardmask material is the same as the second hardmask material.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second edge ring has a lower dielectric constant than the first edge ring.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the material of the second edge ring increases a voltage and an ion energy on the second substrate when the first RF power is applied.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more film properties comprise modulus and stress, and wherein the material of the second edge ring is selected to independently adjust the modulus and the stress of the second hardmask film.

8. A method for modulating properties of one or more hardmask films, comprising:
depositing a first hardmask film on a first substrate and processing the first substrate at a first RF power;
measuring one or more film properties of the first hardmask film, the one or more film properties comprising modulus and stress;
removing the first substrate from a substrate support;
swapping a first edge ring in the substrate support for a second edge ring, the first edge ring comprising a first material different than a second material of the second edge ring;
placing a second substrate on the substrate support; and
depositing a second hardmask film on the second substrate and processing the second substrate at the first RF power, wherein the second material of the second edge ring is selected to adjust at least one film property of the second hardmask film based on the measured one or more film properties of the first hardmask film.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the dielectric material of the second edge ring is selected from the group consisting of quartz, silicon, cross-linked polystyrene and divinylbenzene, polyether ether ketone, Al 2 O 3 , and AlN.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the second hardmask film has a change in modulus different than the first hardmask film of at least about 20%, and wherein the second hardmask film has a change in stress different than the first hardmask film of less than about 5%.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the second hardmask film has a change in stress different than the first hardmask film of at least about 20%, and wherein the second hardmask film has a change in modulus different than the first hardmask film of less than about 5%.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein the second edge ring has a higher dielectric constant than the first edge ring.

13. The method of claim 8 , wherein the material of the second edge ring increases a voltage and an ion energy on the second substrate when the first RF power is applied.

14. The method of claim 8 , wherein the second material of the second edge ring is selected to independently adjust a modulus and a stress of the second hardmask film.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions that are configured to cause a system to:
deposit a first hardmask film on a first substrate and processing the first substrate at a first RF power;
measure one or more film properties of the first hardmask film;
remove the first substrate from a substrate support;
swap a first edge ring in the substrate support for a second edge ring, the second edge ring comprising a material selected from the group consisting of quartz, silicon, cross-linked polystyrene and divinylbenzene, polyether ether ketone, Al 2 O 3 , and AlN;
place a second substrate on the substrate support;
deposit a second hardmask film on the second substrate and processing the second substrate at the first RF power; and
measure the one or more film properties of the second hardmask film.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the second hardmask film has a change in modulus different than the first hardmask film of at least about 20%, and wherein the second hardmask film has a change in stress different than the first hardmask film of less than about 5%.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the second hardmask film has a change in stress different than the first hardmask film of at least about 20%, and wherein the second hardmask film has a change in modulus different than the first hardmask film of less than about 5%.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the one or more film properties comprise modulus and stress, and wherein the material of the second edge ring is selected to independently adjust the modulus and the stress of the second hardmask film.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the second edge ring has a lower dielectric constant than the first edge ring.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the material of the second edge ring increases a voltage and an ion energy on the second substrate when the first RF power is applied.

Assignees

• Applied Materials Inc

Inventors

• Venkatasubramanian Eswaranand
• Haywood Edward L
• Gottheim Samuel E
• Manna Pramit
• Chuc Kien N
• Fischbach Adam
• Mallick Abhijit B
• Franklin Timothy J

Classifications

• H10P72/0612

  Production flow monitoring, e.g. for increasing throughput · CPC title

• H10P50/71

  using masks for conductive or resistive materials · CPC title

• H10P72/7606 Primary

  characterised by edge clamping, e.g. clamping ring · CPC title

• H10P72/7626

  characterised by the construction of the shaft · CPC title

• H10P72/722 Primary

  Details of electrostatic chucks · CPC title