A layer of reduced stress is formed on a substrate using an HDP-CVD system by delaying or interrupting the application of capacitively coupled RF energy. The layer is formed by introducing a process gas into the HDP system chamber and forming a plasma from the process gas by the application of RF power to an inductive coil. After a selected period, a second layer of the film is deposited by maintaining the inductively-coupled plasma and biasing the plasma toward the substrate to enhance the sputtering effect of the plasma. In a preferred embodiment, the deposited film is a silicon oxide film, and biasing is performed by application of capacitively coupled RF power from RF generators to a ceiling plate electrode and wafer support electrode.
A method for reducing die loss in a semiconductor fabrication process which employs titanium nitride and HDP oxide is provided. In the fabrication of multilevel interconnect structures, there is a propensity for defect formation in a process in which titanium nitride and HDP oxide layers are in contact along the edge of a semiconductor substrate. A dielectric interlayer is provided which improves the interfacial properties between titanium nitride and HDP oxide and thereby reduces defects caused by delamination at the titanium nitride/HDP oxide interface.
A method for fabricating a boron-contained silicate glass layers, such as borosilicate and borophosphosilicate glass films at low temperature using High Density Plasma CVD with silane derivatives as a source of silicon, boron and phosphorus compounds as a doping compounds, oxygen is described. RF plasma with certain plasma density is maintained throughout the entire deposition step in reactor chamber. Key feature of the invention's process is a flow capability of boron-contained silicate glass materials which provide a film with good film integrity and void-free gap-fill within the steps of device structures after low temperature thermal budget anneal conditions.
A method for forming a composite dielectric layer within a microelectronic product provides a first dielectric layer formed over a substrate of a fluorosilicate glass (FSG) dielectric material deposited employing a high density plasma chemical vapor deposition (HDP-CVD) method. The method also provides a second dielectric layer formed over the first dielectric layer and formed of an undoped silicate glass (USG) dielectric material deposited employing a HDP-CVD source radio frequency power only method employing a source radio frequency power of from about 1000 to about 5000 watts absent a bias power. The composite dielectric layer is formed with inhibited cracking.
A method is described for forming a low-k dielectric film, in particular, a pre-metal dielectric (PMD) on a semiconductor wafer which has good gap-filling characteristics. The method uses a thermal sub-atmospheric CVD process that includes a carbon-containing organometallic precusor such as TMCTS or OMCTS, an ozone-containing gas, and a source of dopants for gettering alkali elements and for lowering the reflow temperature of the dielectric while attaining the desired low-k and gap-filling properties of the dielectric film. Phosphorous is a preferred dopant for gettering alkali elements such as sodium. Additional dopants for lowering the reflow temperature include, but are not limited to boron, germanium, arsenic, fluorine or combinations thereof.
A method is described for forming a low-k dielectric film, in particular, a pre-metal dielectric (PMD) on a semiconductor wafer which has good gap-filling characteristics. The method uses a thermal sub-atmospheric CVD process that includes a carbon-containing organometallic precusor such as TMCTS or OMCTS, an ozone-containing gas, and a source of dopants for gettering alkali elements and for lowering the reflow temperature of the dielectric while attaining the desired low-k and gap-filling properties of the dielectric film. Phosphorous is a preferred dopant for gettering alkali elements such as sodium. Additional dopants for lowering the reflow temperature include, but are not limited to boron, germanium, arsenic, fluorine or combinations thereof.
