In a plasma generating apparatus, a coil is positioned between a target and a workpiece to inductively couple RF energy into a plasma so that the paths of a portion of the ionized deposition material are deflected from the center of the workpiece and toward the edges of the workpiece. As a consequence, it has been found that the uniformity of deposition may be improved. In the illustrated embodiment, the coil is a multi-turn coil formed in a generally planar spiral centered in the stream of deposition material.
An improved system for performing plasma enhanced PVD of copper, aluminum, tungsten or other metallic material is disclosed. The system has markedly improved performance in the critical area of unwanted in-film particle deposits. The improved performance is provided by lowering the operating temperature of the RF coil used in the plasma enhanced PVD system and by carefully smoothing the outer surface of the RF coil. High conductivity material in the coil supports, increased contact area between the coil supports and the RF coil, and the use of active cooling of the coil further enhance the performance of the system.
In a first aspect, a method is provided that includes (1) forming a first barrier layer over the sidewalls and bottom of a via using atomic layer deposition within an atomic layer deposition (ALD) chamber; (2) removing at least a portion of the first barrier layer from the bottom of the via by sputter etching; and (3) depositing a second barrier layer on the sidewalls and bottom of the via within the ALD chamber. Numerous other embodiments are provided, as are systems, methods and computer program products in accordance with these and other aspects.
In a first aspect, a method is provided that includes (1) forming a first barrier layer over the sidewalls and bottom of a via using atomic layer deposition within an atomic layer deposition (ALD) chamber; (2) removing at least a portion of the first barrier layer from the bottom of the via by sputter etching; and (3) depositing a second barrier layer on the sidewalls and bottom of the via within the ALD chamber. Numerous other embodiments are provided, as are systems, methods and computer program products in accordance with these and other aspects.
In a first aspect, a method is provided that includes (1) forming a first barrier layer over the sidewalls and bottom of a via using atomic layer deposition within an atomic layer deposition (ALD) chamber; (2) removing at least a portion of the first barrier layer from the bottom of the via by sputter etching; and (3) depositing a second barrier layer on the sidewalls and bottom of the via within the ALD chamber. Numerous other embodiments are provided, as are systems, methods and computer program products in accordance with these and other aspects.
A plasma chamber in a semiconductor fabrication system improves the uniformity of a high density plasma by optimizing a ratio of RF power from a first coil, surrounding and inductively coupled into the high density plasma, to RF power from a second coil, positioned above a central region and inductively coupled into the high density plasma. It has also been found that an increase in RF power supplied to the second coil positioned above the central region relative to RF power suppled to the first coil surrounding the high density plasma tends to increase the relative density of the plasma toward the center of the high density plasma. It is believed that RF power supplied to the second coil positioned above the central region substrate tends to add more electrons into the central region of the high density plasma to compensate for electrons recombining with plasma ions. A balance can thus be struck between RF power supplied to the first and second coils to increase plasma uniformity in the high density plasma, which may cause an increase in the uniformity of ionization of the sputtered target material atoms by the high density plasma.
