Methods for forming low resistivity contacts

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12588443-B2
Application number	US-202318139590-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 26, 2023
Priority date	Sep 27, 2022
Publication date	Mar 24, 2026
Grant date	Mar 24, 2026

Abstract

Methods for reducing contact resistance include performing a selective titanium silicide (TiSi) deposition process on a middle of the line (MOL) contact structure that includes a cavity in a substrate of dielectric material. The contact structure also includes a silicon-based connection portion at a bottom of the cavity. The selective TiSi deposition process is selective to silicon-based material over dielectric material. The methods also include performing a selective deposition process of a metal material on the MOL contact structure. The selective deposition process is selective to TiSi material over dielectric material and forms a silicide capping layer on the silicon-based connection portion. The methods further include performing a seed layer deposition process of the metal material on the contact structure.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1 . A method for reducing contact resistance, comprising:
performing a selective titanium silicide (TiSi) deposition process on a middle-of-the-line (MOL) contact structure including a cavity in a substrate of dielectric material with a silicon-based connection portion at a bottom of the cavity, wherein the selective TiSi deposition process is selective to silicon-based material over dielectric material and a TiSi layer of approximately 3 nm to approximately 6 nm is formed on the silicon-based connection portion; performing a selective deposition process of a metal material on the MOL contact structure, wherein the selective deposition process is selective to TiSi material over dielectric material and forms a silicide capping layer on the silicon-based connection portion; and performing a seed layer deposition process of the metal material on the contact structure, wherein the metal material deposited on the contact structure is approximately 2 nm to approximately 3 nm in thickness.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the dielectric material is silicon dioxide or silicon nitride, wherein the silicon-based connection portion is silicon or silicon germanium, and wherein the silicon-based material is silicon or silicon germanium.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the selective TiSi deposition process is a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process with a selectivity of silicon-based material to dielectric material of at least 30:1.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the selective deposition process is a fluorine free metal deposition process of the metal material.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the fluorine free metal deposition process is a halide based atomic layer deposition (ALD) process or chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process using a metal chloride gas with hydrogen gas or a process using metalorganic precursors.

6 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the seed layer deposition process is a plasma vapor deposition (PVD) process that anneals the metal material deposited by the fluorine free metal deposition process.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the metal material is tungsten or molybdenum.

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
performing a preclean process on the MOL contact structure prior to performing the selective TiSi deposition process.

9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
performing a selective etch process to remove portions of the metal material deposited by the seed layer deposition process on sidewalls of the cavity of the MOL contact structure while maintaining the metal material on the bottom of the contact structure and on the silicon-based connection portion; and depositing a metal gapfill material in a bottom-up selective deposition process to fill the MOL contact structure.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the selective etch process is a dry etch process or a wet etch process.

11 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the bottom-up selective deposition process is a selective chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process.

12 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
depositing a metal gapfill material in the cavity of the MOL contact structure using a conformal deposition process.

13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the method uses a mix of tungsten material and molybdenum material in the method.

14 . A method for reducing contact resistance, comprising:
performing a selective titanium silicide (TiSi) deposition process on a middle-of-the-line (MOL) contact structure including a cavity in a substrate of dielectric material with a silicon-based connection portion at a bottom of the cavity, wherein the selective TiSi deposition process is selective to silicon-based material over dielectric material and a TiSi layer of approximately 3 nm to approximately 6 nm is formed on the silicon-based connection portion; performing a selective deposition process of fluorine free tungsten on the MOL contact structure in-situ, wherein the selective deposition process is selective to TiSi material over dielectric material and forms a silicide capping layer on the silicon-based connection portion; performing a seed layer deposition process of tungsten on the contact structure, wherein tungsten deposited on the contact structure is approximately 2 nm to approximately 3 nm in thickness; performing a selective etch process to remove portions of tungsten deposited by the seed layer deposition process on sidewalls of the cavity of the MOL contact structure while maintaining tungsten on the bottom of the contact structure and on the silicon-based connection portion; and depositing a tungsten gapfill material in a bottom-up selective deposition process to fill the MOL contact structure.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the dielectric material is silicon oxide or silicon nitride, wherein the silicon-based connection portion is silicon or silicon germanium, and wherein the silicon-based material is silicon or silicon germanium.

16 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the selective TiSi deposition process is a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process with a selectivity of silicon-based material to dielectric material of at least 30:1.

17 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the selective deposition process is a halide based atomic layer deposition (ALD) process or chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process using a tungsten chloride gas with hydrogen gas or a process using metalorganic precursors.

18 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the seed layer deposition process is a plasma vapor deposition (PVD) process that anneals tungsten deposited by the selective deposition process.

19 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the bottom-up selective deposition process is a selective chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process.

20 . A non-transitory, computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a method for decreasing contact resistance to be performed, the method comprising:
performing a selective titanium silicide (TiSi) deposition process on a middle-of-the-line (MOL) contact structure including a cavity in a substrate of dielectric material with a silicon or silicon germanium connection portion at a bottom of the cavity, wherein the selective TiSi deposition process is selective to silicon or silicon germanium material over dielectric material and a TiSi layer of approximately 3 nm to approximately 6 nm is formed on the silicon or silicon germanium connection portion; performing a selective deposition process of fluorine free tungsten on the MOL contact structure in-situ, wherein the selective deposition process is selective to TiSi material over dielectric material and forms a silicide capping layer on the silicon or silicon germanium connection portion; performing a seed layer deposition process of tungsten on the contact structure, wherein tungsten deposited on the contact structure is approximately 2 nm to approximately 3 nm in thickness; performing a selective etch process to remove portions of tungsten deposited by the seed layer deposition process on sidewalls of the cavity of the MOL contact structure while maintaining tungsten on the bottom of the contact structure and on the silicon or silicon germanium connection portion; and depositing a tungsten gapfill material in a bottom-up selective deposition process to fill the MOL contact structure.

Assignees

• Applied Materials Inc

Inventors

• Lu Jiang
• Wu Liqi
• Dou Wei
• Ye Weifeng
• Chen Shih Chung
• Wang Rongjun
• Tang Xianmin
• Wan Yiyang
• Zhang Shumao
• Guo Jianqiu

Classifications

• H10P14/6339

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

• H10P14/6336

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

• C23C16/045

  Coating cavities or hollow spaces, e.g. interior of tubes; Infiltration of porous substrates · CPC title

• H10W20/057

  by selectively depositing, e.g. by using selective CVD or plating · CPC title

• H10W20/045

  for deposition from the gaseous phase, e.g. for chemical vapour deposition [CVD] · CPC title