| Patent application number | Description | Published |
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| 20080254233 | PLASMA-INDUCED CHARGE DAMAGE CONTROL FOR PLASMA ENHANCED CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION PROCESSES - Methods of depositing amorphous carbon films on substrates are provided herein. The methods reduce or prevent plasma-induced charge damage to the substrates from the deposition of the amorphous carbon films. In one aspect, an initiation layer of amorphous carbon is deposited at a low RF power level and/or at a low hydrocarbon compound/inert gas flow rate ratio before a bulk layer of amorphous carbon is deposited. After the deposition of the initiation layer, the RF power, hydrocarbon flow rate, and inert gas flow rate may be ramped to final values for the deposition of the bulk layer, wherein the RF power ramp rate is typically greater than the ramp rates of the hydrocarbon compound and of the inert gas. In another aspect, a method of minimizing plasma-induced charge damage includes depositing a seasoning layer on one or more interior surfaces of a chamber before the deposition of the amorphous carbon film on a substrate therein or coating the interior surfaces with an oxide or dielectric layer during manufacturing. | 10-16-2008 |
| 20090050902 | SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE HAVING SILICON CARBIDE AND CONDUCTIVE PATHWAY INTERFACE - The present invention provides semiconductor device formed by an in situ plasma reducing process to reduce oxides or other contaminants, using a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen, typically ammonia, at relatively low temperatures prior to depositing a subsequent layer thereon. The adhesion characteristics of the layers are improved and oxygen presence is reduced compared to the typical physical sputter cleaning process of an oxide layer. This process may be particularly useful for the complex requirements of a dual damascene structure, especially with copper applications. | 02-26-2009 |
| 20090068356 | HIGH PRODUCTIVITY PLASMA PROCESSING CHAMBER - Embodiments of the present invention are generally directed to apparatus and methods for a plasma-processing chamber requiring less maintenance and downtime and possessing improved reliability over the prior art. In one embodiment, the apparatus includes a substrate support resting on a ceramic shaft, an inner shaft allowing for electrical connections to the substrate support at atmospheric pressure, an aluminum substrate support resting on but not fixed to a ceramic support structure, sapphire rest points swaged into the substrate support, and a heating element inside the substrate support arranged in an Archimedes spiral to reduce warping of the substrate support and to increase its lifetime. Methods include increasing time between in-situ cleans of the chamber by reducing particle generation from chamber surfaces. Reduced particle generation occurs via temperature control of chamber components and pressurization of non-processing regions of the chamber relative to the processing region with a purge gas. | 03-12-2009 |
| 20090093128 | METHODS FOR HIGH TEMPERATURE DEPOSITION OF AN AMORPHOUS CARBON LAYER - Methods for high temperature deposition an amorphous carbon film with improved step coverage are provided. In one embodiment, a method for of depositing an amorphous carbon film includes providing a substrate in a process chamber, heating the substrate at a temperature greater than 500 degrees Celsius, supplying a gas mixture comprising a hydrocarbon compound and an inert gas into the process chamber containing the heated substrate, and depositing an amorphous carbon film on the heated substrate having a stress of between 100 mega-pascal (MPa) tensile and about 100 mega-pascal (MPa) compressive. | 04-09-2009 |
| 20090104541 | PLASMA SURFACE TREATMENT TO PREVENT PATTERN COLLAPSE IN IMMERSION LITHOGRAPHY - The present invention comprises a method of reducing photoresist mask collapse when the photoresist mask is dried after immersion development. As feature sizes continue to shrink, the capillary force of water used to rinse a photoresist mask approaches the point of being greater than adhesion force of the photoresist to the ARC. When the capillary force exceeds the adhesion force, the features of the mask may collapse because the water pulls adjacent features together as the water dries. By depositing a hermetic oxide layer over the ARC before depositing the photoresist, the adhesion force may exceed the capillary force and the features of the photoresist mask may not collapse. | 04-23-2009 |
| 20090197086 | ELIMINATION OF PHOTORESIST MATERIAL COLLAPSE AND POISONING IN 45-NM FEATURE SIZE USING DRY OR IMMERSION LITHOGRAPHY - A method and structure for the fabrication of semiconductor devices having feature sizes in the range of 90 nm and smaller is provided. In one embodiment of the invention, a method is provided for processing a substrate including depositing an anti-reflective coating layer on a surface of the substrate, depositing an adhesion promotion layer on the anti-reflective coating layer, and depositing a resist material on the adhesion promotion layer. In another embodiment of the invention, a semiconductor substrate structure is provided including a dielectric substrate, an amorphous carbon layer deposited on the dielectric layer, an anti-reflective coating layer deposited on the amorphous carbon layer, an adhesion promotion layer deposited on the anti-reflective coating layer, and a resist material deposited on the adhesion promotion layer. | 08-06-2009 |
| 20100087062 | HIGH TEMPERATURE BD DEVELOPMENT FOR MEMORY APPLICATIONS - A method and apparatus for depositing organosilicate dielectric layers having good adhesion properties and low dielectric constant. Embodiments are described in which layers are deposited at low temperature and at high temperature. The low temperature layers are generally post-treated, whereas the high temperature layers need no post treating. Adhesion of the layers is promoted by use of an initiation layer. | 04-08-2010 |
| 20100093187 | Method for Depositing Conformal Amorphous Carbon Film by Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) - Methods and apparatus for depositing an amorphous carbon layer on a substrate are provided. In one embodiment, a deposition process includes positioning a substrate in a substrate processing chamber, introducing a hydrocarbon source having a carbon to hydrogen atom ratio of greater than 1:2 into the processing chamber, introducing a plasma initiating gas selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, helium, argon, nitrogen, and combinations thereof into the processing chamber, with the hydrocarbon source having a volumetric flow rate to plasma initiating gas volumetric flow rate ratio of 1:2 or greater, generating a plasma in the processing chamber, and forming a conformal amorphous carbon layer on the substrate. | 04-15-2010 |
| 20100151671 | NOVEL AIR GAP INTEGRATION SCHEME - Methods are provided for forming a structure that includes an air gap. In one embodiment, a method is provided for forming a damascene structure comprises depositing a porous low dielectric constant layer by a method including reacting an organosilicon compound and a porogen-providing precursor, depositing a porogen-containing material, and removing at least a portion of the porogen-containing material, depositing an organic layer on the porous low dielectric constant layer by reacting the porogen-providing precursor, forming a feature definition in the organic layer and the porous low dielectric constant layer, filing the feature definition with a conductive material therein, depositing a mask layer on the organic layer and the conductive material disposed in the feature definition, forming apertures in the mask layer to expose the organic layer, removing a portion or all of the organic layer through the apertures, and forming an air gap adjacent the conductive material. | 06-17-2010 |
| 20110090613 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SUBSTRATE CLAMPING IN A PLASMA CHAMBER - The present invention generally provides methods and apparatus for monitoring and maintaining flatness of a substrate in a plasma reactor. Certain embodiments of the present invention provide a method for processing a substrate comprising positioning the substrate on an electrostatic chuck, applying an RF power between the an electrode in the electrostatic chuck and a counter electrode positioned parallel to the electrostatic chuck, applying a DC bias to the electrode in the electrostatic chuck to clamp the substrate on the electrostatic chuck, and measuring an imaginary impedance of the electrostatic chuck. | 04-21-2011 |
| 20110104400 | METHOD FOR DEPOSITING AN AMORPHOUS CARBON FILM WITH IMPROVED DENSITY AND STEP COVERAGE - A method for depositing an amorphous carbon layer on a substrate includes the steps of positioning a substrate in a chamber, introducing a hydrocarbon source into the processing chamber, introducing a heavy noble gas into the processing chamber, and generating a plasma in the processing chamber. The heavy noble gas is selected from the group consisting of argon, krypton, xenon, and combinations thereof and the molar flow rate of the noble gas is greater than the molar flow rate of the hydrocarbon source. A post-deposition termination step may be included, wherein the flow of the hydrocarbon source and the noble gas is stopped and a plasma is maintained in the chamber for a period of time to remove particles therefrom. | 05-05-2011 |
| 20110136327 | HIGH MOBILITY MONOLITHIC P-I-N DIODES - Methods of forming high-current density vertical p-i-n diodes on a substrate are described. The methods include the steps of concurrently combining a group-IV-element-containing precursor with a sequential exposure to an n-type dopant precursor and a p-type dopant precursor in either order. An intrinsic layer is deposited between the n-type and p-type layers by reducing or eliminating the flow of the dopant precursors while flowing the group-IV-element-containing precursor. The substrate may reside in the same processing chamber during the deposition of each of the n-type layer, intrinsic layer and p-type layer and the substrate is not exposed to atmosphere between the depositions of adjacent layers. | 06-09-2011 |
