Fabrication of semiconductor interconnect structure
Granted: July 9, 2013
Patent Number:
8481432
An etching process for selectively etching exposed metal surfaces of a substrate and forming a conductive capping layer over the metal surfaces is described. In some embodiments, the etching process involves oxidation of the exposed metal to form a metal oxide that is subsequently removed from the surface of the substrate. The exposed metal may be oxidized by using solutions containing oxidizing agents such as peroxides or by using oxidizing gases such as those containing oxygen or…
Flowable film dielectric gap fill process
Granted: July 9, 2013
Patent Number:
8481403
Methods of this invention relate to filling gaps on substrates with a solid dielectric material by forming a flowable film in the gap. The flowable film provides consistent, void-free gap fill. The film is then converted to a solid dielectric material. In this manner gaps on the substrate are filled with a solid dielectric material. According to various embodiments, the methods involve reacting a dielectric precursor with an oxidant to form the dielectric material. In certain…
Apparatus including a plasma chamber and controller including instructions for forming a boron nitride layer
Granted: July 9, 2013
Patent Number:
8479683
A method of forming a boron nitride or boron carbon nitride dielectric produces a conformal layer without loading effect. The dielectric layer is formed by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of a boron-containing film on a substrate, at least a portion of the deposition being conducted without plasma, and then exposing the deposited boron-containing film to a plasma. The CVD component dominates the deposition process, producing a conformal film without loading effect. The dielectric is…
Method and apparatus for electroplating
Granted: July 2, 2013
Patent Number:
8475644
An apparatus for electroplating a layer of metal onto the surface of a wafer includes an ionically resistive ionically permeable element located in close proximity of the wafer and an auxiliary cathode located between the anode and the ionically resistive ionically permeable element. The ionically resistive ionically permeable element serves to modulate ionic current at the wafer surface. The auxiliary cathode is configured to shape the current distribution from the anode. The provided…
Electroplating apparatus with vented electrolyte manifold
Granted: July 2, 2013
Patent Number:
8475637
Embodiments related to increasing a uniformity of an electroplated film are disclosed. For example, one disclosed embodiment provides an electroplating apparatus comprising a plating chamber, a work piece holder, a cathode contact configured to electrically contact a work piece, and an anode contact configured to electrically contact an anode disposed in the plating chamber. A diffusing barrier is disposed between the cathode contact and the anode contact to provide a uniform electrolyte…
Method and apparatus for electroplating
Granted: July 2, 2013
Patent Number:
8475636
An apparatus for electroplating a layer of metal onto the surface of a wafer includes an ionically resistive ionically permeable element located in close proximity of the wafer and an auxiliary cathode located between the anode and the ionically resistive ionically permeable element. The ionically resistive ionically permeable element serves to modulate ionic current at the wafer surface. The auxiliary cathode is configured to shape the current distribution from the anode. The provided…
Topography reduction and control by selective accelerator removal
Granted: June 25, 2013
Patent Number:
8470191
Plating accelerator is applied selectively to a substantially-unfilled wide (e.g., low-aspect-ratio feature cavity. Then, plating of metal is conducted to fill the wide feature cavity and to form an embossed structure in which the height of a wide-feature metal protrusion over the metal-filled wide-feature cavity is higher than the height of metal over field regions. Most of the overburden metal is removed using non-contact techniques, such as chemical wet etching. Metal above the wide…
Carbon containing low-k dielectric constant recovery using UV treatment
Granted: June 18, 2013
Patent Number:
8465991
A method for the ultraviolet (UV) treatment of carbon-containing low-k dielectric and associated apparatus enables process induced damage repair. The methods of the invention are particularly applicable in the context of damascene processing to recover lost low-k property of a dielectric damaged during processing, either pre-metallization, post-planarization, or both. UV treatments can include an exposure of the subject low-k dielectric to a constrained UV spectral profile and/or…
Minimum contact area wafer clamping with gas flow for rapid wafer cooling
Granted: June 4, 2013
Patent Number:
8454294
Apparatuses and methods for cooling and transferring wafers from low pressure environment to high pressure environment are provided. An apparatus may include a cooling pedestal and a set of supports for holding the wafer above the cooling pedestal. The average gap between the wafer and the cooling pedestal may be no greater than about 0.010 inches. Venting gases may be used to increase the pressure inside the apparatus during the transfer. In certain embodiment, venting gases comprise…
Multi-station sequential curing of dielectric films
Granted: June 4, 2013
Patent Number:
8454750
The present invention addresses provides improved methods of preparing a low-k dielectric material on a substrate. The methods involve multiple operation ultraviolet curing processes in which UV intensity, wafer substrate temperature and other conditions may be independently modulated in each operation. In certain embodiments, a film containing a structure former and a porogen is exposed to UV radiation in a first operation to facilitate removal of the porogen and create a porous…
Sequential station tool for wet processing of semiconductor wafers
Granted: May 28, 2013
Patent Number:
8450210
Methods and apparatus are provided for processing semiconductor wafers sequentially. Sequential processes employ multi-station processing modules, where particular encompassing wafer processes are divided into sub-processes, each optimized for increasing wafer to wafer uniformity, result quality, and overall wafer throughput. In one example, a copper electroplating module includes separate stations for wetting, initiation, seed layer repair, fill, overburden, reclaim, and rinse.
Method and apparatus for increasing local plasma density in magnetically confined plasma
Granted: May 28, 2013
Patent Number:
8449731
Local plasma density, e.g., the plasma density in the vicinity of the substrate, is increased by providing an ion extractor configured to transfer ions and electrons from a first region of magnetically confined plasma (typically a region of higher density plasma) to a second region of plasma (typically a region of lower density plasma). The second region of plasma is preferably also magnetically shaped or confined and resides between the first region of plasma and the substrate. A…
Simultaneous front side ash and backside clean
Granted: May 21, 2013
Patent Number:
8444869
A method and apparatus for cleaning a wafer. The wafer is heated and moved to a processing station within the apparatus that has a platen either permanently in a platen down position or is transferable from a platen up position to the platen down position. The wafer is positioned over the platen so as not to contact the platen and provide a gap between the platen and wafer. The gap may be generated by positioning the platen in a platen down position. A plasma flows into the gap to enable…
Methods for stripping photoresist and/or cleaning metal regions
Granted: May 7, 2013
Patent Number:
8435895
Methods are provided for cleaning metal regions overlying semiconductor substrates. A method for removing material from a metal region comprises heating the metal region, forming a plasma from a gas comprising hydrogen and carbon dioxide, and exposing the metal region to the plasma.
Depositing tungsten into high aspect ratio features
Granted: May 7, 2013
Patent Number:
8435894
Methods and apparatuses for filling high aspect ratio features with tungsten-containing materials in a substantially void-free manner are provided. In certain embodiments, the method involves depositing an initial layer of a tungsten-containing material followed by selectively removing a portion of the initial layer to form a remaining layer, which is differentially passivated along the depth of the high-aspect ration feature. In certain embodiments, the remaining layer is more…
Methods of depositing smooth and conformal ashable hard mask films
Granted: May 7, 2013
Patent Number:
8435608
Provided are plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition methods of depositing smooth and conformal ashable hard mask films on substrates containing raised or recessed features. The methods involve using precursors having relatively high C:H ratios, such as acetylene (C:H ratio of 1), and plasmas having low ion energies and fluxes. According to various embodiments, the methods involve depositing smooth ashable hard mask films using high frequency radio frequency-generated plasmas with no…
High density plasma etchback process for advanced metallization applications
Granted: April 30, 2013
Patent Number:
8431033
A physical vapor deposition (PVD) system and method includes a chamber including a target and a pedestal supporting a substrate. A target bias device supplies DC power to the target during etching of the substrate. The DC power is greater than or equal to 8 kW. A magnetic field generating device, including electromagnetic coils and/or permanent magnets, creates a magnetic field in a chamber of the PVD system during etching of the substrate. A radio frequency (RF) bias device supplies an…
Protective self-aligned buffer layers for damascene interconnects
Granted: April 30, 2013
Patent Number:
8430992
Protective self aligned buffer (PSAB) layers are layers of material that are selectively formed at the surface of metal layers in a partially fabricated semiconductor device. In a Damascene interconnect, PSAB layer typically resides at an interface between the metal layer and a dielectric diffusion barrier layer. PSAB layers promote improved adhesion between a metal layer and an adjacent dielectric diffusion barrier layer. Further, PSAB layers can protect metal surfaces from inadvertent…
Dedicated hot and cold end effectors for improved throughput
Granted: April 30, 2013
Patent Number:
8430620
Methods, systems and apparatuses for high throughput substrate transfer are provided. According to various embodiments, the methods and systems described use robots having dedicated end effectors for hot and cold wafers or other substrates). Throughput is increased by optimizing the transfer of both the hot and the cold wafers. Also described are wafer transfer apparatuses having end effectors configured for supporting either hot or cold wafers. In certain embodiments, dual arm robots…
Tunable-illumination reflector optics for UV cure system
Granted: April 23, 2013
Patent Number:
8426778
The present invention provides improved apparatus for ultraviolet (UV) cure of thin films. A central external reflector (CER) reflects UV light at different angles to compensate for non-uniformity of the deposited film on the substrate. The CER is positioned between the UV light source and the substrate and includes an actuator that can change the angle of reflection before and during UV cure.
