Directional deposition in etch chamber

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11742212-B2
Application number	US-201917309188-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 29, 2019
Priority date	Nov 5, 2018
Publication date	Aug 29, 2023
Grant date	Aug 29, 2023

Abstract

Methods for forming a vertical growth mask for use in etching applications are described herein. Disclosed embodiments include introducing a tungsten-containing deposition precursor and one or more carrier gases while igniting a plasma to deposit tungsten selectively on field regions of positive features of a patterned etch mask without substantial deposition on sidewalls of the positive features or on an exposed surface of a target layer underlying the patterned etch mask.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
providing a semiconductor substrate comprising a carbon-containing target layer, an anti-reflective layer, and a patterned photoresist;
patterning the anti-reflective layer to form a patterned anti-reflective mask;
exposing the semiconductor substrate to a tungsten-containing precursor and igniting a plasma under conditions to selectively deposit a tungsten-containing mask to form a patterned tungsten-containing mask on field regions of the patterned anti-reflective mask; and
patterning the carbon-containing target layer using the patterned anti-reflective mask and patterned tungsten-containing mask.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the formation of the patterned tungsten-containing mask and the patterning the carbon-containing target layer are performed simultaneously.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the formation of the patterned tungsten-containing mask and the patterning the carbon-containing target layer are performed in a cycle.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the depositing of the tungsten-containing mask comprises using one or more cycles of (i) a pulse of a first gas and (ii) a pulse of a mixture of second and third gases.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the first gas comprises the tungsten-containing precursor, and the mixture of second and third gases comprises a mixture of argon and hydrogen gas.

6. The method of claim 4 , further comprising selecting a quantity of the one or more cycles based on a duration of the pulse of the first gas, a duration of the pulse of the mixture of second and third gases, a desired thickness of the tungsten-containing mask, or a combination thereof.

7. A method comprising:
providing a semiconductor substrate comprising a carbon-containing target layer and a patterned etch mask having a first critical dimension;
exposing the semiconductor substrate to plasma generated using a plasma power between about 100W and about 500W from one or more pulses of a tungsten-containing precursor and one or more pulses of a mixture of argon and hydrogen gas at a substrate temperature less than about 160° C. to form tungsten material having a second critical dimension on the patterned etch mask, and
patterning the carbon-containing target layer using the patterned etch mask and the tungsten material;
wherein the second critical dimension is within 150% of the first critical dimension.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the one or more pulses of the mixture of argon and hydrogen gas comprise a duration of between about 100 milliseconds and about 10 seconds.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the one or more pulses of a tungsten-containing precursor comprise a duration of between about 100 milliseconds and about 10 seconds.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the formation of the tungsten material and the patterning of the carbon-containing target layer are performed simultaneously.

11. The method of claim 7 , wherein the formation of the tungsten material and the patterning of the carbon-containing target layer are performed in a cycle.

12. The method of claim 7 , wherein the one or more pulses of the tungsten-containing precursor and the one or more pulses of the mixture of argon and hydrogen gas comprise a plurality of alternating pulses of the tungsten-containing precursor and the mixture of argon and hydrogen gas.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the plurality of alternating pulses comprise a quantity of cycles selected based on a duration of each of the plurality of alternating pulses of the tungsten-containing precursor and the mixture of argon and hydrogen gas, a desired thickness of the tungsten material, or a combination thereof.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the quantity of cycles is between about 3 cycles and about 20 cycles.

Assignees

• Lam Res Corp

Inventors

• Tan Zhongkui
• Xie Lisi
• Yamaguchi Yoko
• Ishikawa Yasushi
• Ponath Patrick
• Jung Sung Jin
• Park Sangjun
• Lee Wonchul
• Choi Jayoung

Classifications

• H10P76/2043

  using an anti-reflective coating · CPC title

• H10P14/6336

  in the presence of a plasma [PECVD] · CPC title

• H10P50/73 Primary

  using masks for insulating materials · CPC title

• H10P72/3306

  Horizontal transfer of a single workpiece · CPC title

• H10P72/0606

  Position monitoring, e.g. misposition detection or presence detection · CPC title