Patent · US Expired

Optimized tungsten contact plug process via use of furnace annealed barrier layers

US5705442A · kind A · utility

29Cited by
6References
22Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateOct 27, 1995
Grant dateJan 6, 1998
Priority date
Expiry dateOct 27, 2015

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH01L21/76877
  • WIPO fieldSemiconductors
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A process, to fill small diameter contact holes with tungsten, without deleterious attack of contact hole liner materials, during the tungsten deposition, has been developed. The process consists of using a titanium nitride barrier layer, overlying a titanium adhesive layer. However the barrier characteristics of titanium nitride are enhanced by subjecting this layer to an anneal cycle in an nitrogen ambient. The annealing produces a more robust barrier in terms of incorporating additional nitrogen into the deposited titanium nitride layer, as well as forming titanium nitride on any underlying titanium, that may be exposed due to defects in the deposited titanium nitride layer.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.