Nucleation-free tungsten deposition

US12237221B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Lam Research Corporation · US

Inventors

• Sema Ermez · San Jose, US
• Ruopeng Deng · San Jose, US
• Yutaka Nishioka · Nanbu, JP
• Xiaolan Ba · Fremont, US
• Sanjay Gopinath · Fremont, US
• Michal Danek · Cupertino, US

Key dates

• Filing date: May 18, 2020
• Grant date: Feb 25, 2025
• Expiry date: Sep 4, 2041

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H01L21/76877
• WIPO field: Surface technology, coating
• WIPO sector: Chemistry

Abstract

Provided herein are methods of depositing tungsten (W) films without depositing a nucleation layer. In certain embodiments, the methods involve depositing a conformal reducing agent layer of boron (B) and/or silicon (Si) on a substrate. The substrate generally includes a feature to be filled with tungsten with the reducing agent layer conformal to the topography of the substrate including the feature. The reducing agent layer is then exposed to a fluorine-containing tungsten precursor, which is reduced by the reducing agent layer to form a layer of elemental tungsten. The conformal reducing agent layer is converted to a conformal tungsten layer.