Conformal damage-free encapsulation of chalcogenide materials

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2020066987-A1
Application number	US-201816112503-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Aug 24, 2018
Priority date	Aug 24, 2018
Publication date	Feb 27, 2020
Grant date	—

Abstract

Methods and apparatuses for forming an encapsulation bilayer over a chalcogenide material on a semiconductor substrate are provided. Methods involve forming a bilayer including a barrier layer directly on chalcogenide material deposited using pulsed plasma plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PP-PECVD) and an encapsulation layer over the barrier layer deposited using plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD). In various embodiments, the barrier layer is formed using a halogen-free silicon precursor and the encapsulation layer deposited by PEALD is formed using a halogen-containing silicon precursor and a hydrogen-free nitrogen-containing reactant.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method comprising:
providing a substrate comprising one or more exposed layers of chalcogenide material; depositing a first silicon nitride layer by exposing the one or more exposed layers of chalcogenide material to a pulsed halogen-free plasma; and after depositing the first silicon nitride layer, depositing a second silicon nitride layer on the first silicon nitride layer by atomic layer deposition using alternating pulses of a halogen-containing silicon-containing precursor and a nitrogen-containing reactant.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first silicon nitride layer is deposited using pulsed plasma plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first silicon nitride layer prevents damage of the one or more exposed layers of the chalcogenide material when the second silicon nitride layer is deposited over the one or more exposed layers of the chalcogenide material.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first silicon nitride layer is deposited to a thickness of between about 5 Å and about 10 Å on a sidewall of the one or more exposed layers of chalcogenide material.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the pulsed halogen-free plasma is ignited in an environment comprising a silane precursor and ammonia.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the silane precursor is introduced to the silane precursor and ammonia environment in a mixture comprising nitrogen.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein a ratio of the silane precursor to nitrogen in the mixture is at least about 30:1.

8 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the ammonia is introduced to the silane precursor and ammonia environment in a mixture comprising hydrogen.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein a ratio of the ammonia to hydrogen in the mixture is at least about 30:1.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the halogen-free plasma is pulsed at a duty cycle of between about 5% and about 20%.

11 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising, after depositing the first silicon nitride layer and prior to depositing the second silicon nitride layer, exposing the first silicon nitride layer to a post-treatment plasma to densify the first silicon nitride layer.

12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the pulse of nitrogen-containing reactant during second silicon nitride layer atomic layer deposition comprises pulsing nitrogen plasma without hydrogen and pulsing hydrogen plasma without nitrogen in alternating cycles.

13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the nitrogen-containing reactant is hydrogen-free and the halogen-containing silicon-containing precursor comprises iodine, bromine, and combinations thereof.

14 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising prior to depositing the first silicon nitride layer, etching the substrate comprising the one or more exposed layers of chalcogenide material, wherein the etching and the depositing of the first silicon nitride layer is performed without breaking vacuum.

15 . A method for processing substrates, the method comprising:
providing a substrate comprising one or more exposed layers of chalcogenide material; forming an encapsulation bilayer comprising a first silicon nitride layer having a first density and a second silicon nitride layer having a second density over the chalcogenide material by: depositing the first silicon nitride layer having the first density directly on the one or more exposed layers of the chalcogenide material; and depositing the second silicon nitride layer having the second density over the first silicon nitride layer having the first density, wherein the first density is less than the second density, and wherein the first silicon nitride layer is located between the one or more exposed layers of chalcogenide material and the second silicon nitride layer.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the first silicon nitride layer is deposited to a thickness of between about 5 Å and about 10 Å on a sidewall of the one or more exposed layers of chalcogenide material.

17 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the first silicon nitride layer is deposited by exposing the one or more exposed layers of chalcogenide material to a pulsed plasma.

18 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the first density is less than about 2.5 g/cm 3 and the second density is greater than about 2.6 g/cm 3 .

19 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising, after depositing the first silicon nitride layer and prior to depositing the second silicon nitride layer, exposing the first silicon nitride layer to a post-treatment plasma to densify the first silicon nitride layer to a density between the first density and the second density.

20 . An apparatus for processing substrates, the apparatus comprising:
an etching module for etching a semiconductor substrate having one or more layers of chalcogenide materials to form a pattern of chalcogenide materials in stacks on the semiconductor substrate; a deposition module for depositing encapsulation bilayer on the semiconductor substrate using pulsed plasma plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition and plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition; and a wafer transfer tool for transferring the semiconductor substrate between the etching module and the deposition module without breaking vacuum.

Assignees

• Lam Res Corp

Inventors

• Sims James Samuel
• Mckerrow Andrew John
• Shen Meihua
• Lill Thorsten
• Tang Shane
• Kelchner Kathryn Merced
• Hoang John
• Dulkin Alexander
• Qian Danna
• Rai Vikrant

Classifications

• H10P72/0454

  surrounding a central transfer chamber · CPC title

• H10P14/69433

  the material being a silicon nitride not containing oxygen, e.g. SixNy or SixByNz · CPC title

• H10P14/6686

  the compound being a molecule comprising at least one silicon-oxygen bond and the compound having hydrogen or an organic group attached to the silicon or oxygen, e.g. a siloxane · CPC title

• H10P14/6682

  the compound being a silane, e.g. disilane, methylsilane or chlorosilane · CPC title

• H10P14/6532

  by exposure to a plasma · CPC title