Nanolayer deposition using bias power treatment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9708707-B2
Application number	US-78343110-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 19, 2010
Priority date	Sep 10, 2001
Publication date	Jul 18, 2017
Grant date	Jul 18, 2017

Abstract

A hybrid deposition process of CVD and ALD, called NanoLayer Deposition (NLD) is provided. The NLD process is a cyclic sequential deposition process, comprising introducing a first plurality of precursors to deposit a thin layer with the deposition process not self limiting, followed by introducing a second plurality of precursors for plasma treating the thin deposited layer. The plasma can be isotropic, anisotropic, or a combination of isotropic and anisotropic to optimize the effectiveness of the treatment of the thin deposited layers.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A deposition method to deposit a thin film comprising:
introducing into a chamber a first plurality of precursors to deposit, using thermally activated chemical vapor deposition (CVD), a first layer on a substrate in a non-self-limiting deposition process;
after depositing the first layer, introducing a second plurality of precursors in a plasma ambient that modify the deposited first layer in a plasma modification process conducted for between 0.5 second and 30 seconds, wherein the plasma ambient is generated using a first power source;
wherein the plasma modification process comprises, during generation of the plasma ambient using the first power source, applying a pulsed bias from a second power source to a substrate, wherein applying comprises performing multiple bias pulses on the deposited first layer, wherein applying the multiple bias pulses is performed throughout the duration of the plasma modification process,
wherein a pulse period for the pulsed bias is less than 1 millisecond,
wherein a duty cycle for applying the pulsed bias comprises a time ratio for a time in a high power state over a sum of the time in the high power state and a time in the low power state, wherein the duty cycle is greater than 50%, and
repeating the deposition and plasma modification process for at least one subsequent layer.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein each plasma modification process incorporates impurities to the deposited first or subsequent layer.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein each plasma modification process removes impurities from the deposited first or subsequent layer.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein each plasma modification process replaces elements from the deposited first or subsequent layer with same elements from the plasma ambient.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein each plasma modification process comprises one or more of extracting impurities, incorporating additional elements, exchanging elements in the deposited first or subsequent layer, changing a stoichiometry of elements in the deposited first or subsequent layer, and changing electrical or thermal resistivity or crystallinity.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein each plasma modification process comprises powering the substrate with power levels that are less than a sputtering threshold power.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein each plasma modification process comprises powering the substrate with power levels that are approximately equal to a sputtering threshold power.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein each plasma modification process comprises powering the substrate a pulsed power source in which the high power state uses bias power levels that are higher than a sputtering threshold power and the low power state uses bias power levels that are below the sputtering threshold power.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein each plasma modification process comprises powering the substrate with a power level of less than about 300 W at 13.56 MHz.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein each plasma modification process comprises powering the substrate with a bias frequency in the range of 0.1 to 100 MHz.

11. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
repeating the deposition and plasma modification process for the at least one subsequent layer, wherein the at least one subsequent layer incorporates at least one of a different first precursors, different second precursors, and different plasma modification conditions.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising:
repeating the deposition and plasma modification process for the first layer and the at least one subsequent layer.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein in each plasma modification process at least one of pressure, flow rate, plasma power, plasma frequency, bias duty cycle, and precursor selection is varied over the duration of each plasma modification process.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plasma modification process is greater than 5 seconds.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the duty cycle is greater than about 75%.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plasma modification process is conducted for between 0.5 second to 10 seconds.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plasma modification process is conducted for between 5 seconds and 10 seconds.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the deposited first layer is a few nanometers thick.

19. A deposition method to deposit a thin film comprising:
depositing, using thermally activated chemical vapor deposition (CVD), a first layer on a substrate in a non-self-limiting deposition process; and
plasma treating the deposited layer with a plasma ambient generated using a first power source and a pulsed bias applied to the substrate, the pulsed bias generated using a second power source during generation of the plasma ambient using the first power source, wherein plasma treating comprises multiple pulses on the deposited layer, wherein plasma treating is conducted for between 0.5 second and 30 seconds, wherein a pulse period for the pulsed bias is less than 1 millisecond, further wherein a duty cycle for the pulsed bias comprises a time ratio of a high power state to a sum of the high power state and a low power state of more than fifty percent; and
repeating the deposition and plasma treating for at least one subsequent layer.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein each plasma treating performs at least one of incorporating impurities to the deposited first or subsequent layer, removing impurities from the deposited layer, replacing elements from the deposited layer with same elements from the plasma ambient, and changing one or more properties or characteristics of the film.

21. The method of claim 19 wherein the pulsed bias powers the substrate with power levels that are less than a sputtering threshold power.

22. The method of claim 19 wherein the pulsed bias powers the substrate with power levels that are approximately equal to a sputtering threshold power.

23. The method of claim 19 wherein the pulsed bias powers the substrate with a power level of less than about 300 W at 13.56 MHz.

24. The method of claim 19 wherein the pulsed bias powers the substrate with a bias frequency in the range of 0.1 to 100 MHz.

25. The method of claim 19 further comprising:
repeating the deposition and plasma treating for the at least one subsequent layer, wherein the subsequent layer incorporates at least one of different first precursors, different second precursors, and different plasma modification conditions.

26. The method of claim 25 further comprising:
repeating the deposition and plasma treating for the first layer and the at least one subsequent layer.

27. The method of claim 19 wherein during plasma treating the deposited first or subsequent layer at least one of pressure, flow rate, plasma power, plasma frequency, bias duty cycle, and precursor selection is varied over the duration of the plasma treatment.

28. The method of claim 19 , wherein the duty cycle is greater than about 75%.

29. The method of claim 19 , wherein the plasma modification process is conducted for between 0.5 second to 10 seconds.

30. A deposition method to deposit a thin film comprising:
introducing into a chamber a first plurality of precursors to deposit a first layer on a substrate using thermally activated chemical vapor deposition (CVD);

Assignees

• Ditizio Robert Anthony
• Nguyen Tue
• Nguyen Tai Dung
• Asm Int Nv

Inventors

• Ditizio Robert Anthony
• Nguyen Tue
• Nguyen Tai Dung

Classifications

• C23C16/45523

  Pulsed gas flow or change of composition over time · CPC title

• C23C16/507

  using external electrodes, e.g. in tunnel type reactors · CPC title

• C23C16/34 Primary

  Nitrides {(C23C16/303 takes precedence)} · CPC title