Cascaded cure approach to fabricate highly tensile silicon nitride films
US8512818B1 · kind B1 · utility
20Cited by
147References
18Claims
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Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 1, 2012 |
| Grant date | Aug 20, 2013 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 1, 2032 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH10D30/792
- WIPO fieldSurface technology, coating
- WIPO sectorChemistry
Abstract
A highly tensile dielectric layer is generated on a heat sensitive substrate while not exceeding thermal budget constraints. Cascaded ultraviolet (UV) irradiation is used to produce highly tensile films to be used, for example, in strained NMOS transistor architectures. Successive UV radiation of equal or shorter wavelengths with variable intensity and duration selectively breaks bonds in the Si—N matrix and minimizes shrinkage and film relaxation. Higher tensile stress than a non-cascaded approach may be obtained.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.