Patent · US Active

Low temperature plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition of conformal silicon carbon nitride and silicon nitride films

US8586487B2 · kind B2 · utility

5Cited by
11References
20Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJan 18, 2012
Grant dateNov 19, 2013
Priority date
Expiry dateJul 18, 2032

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH10D84/038
  • WIPO fieldSemiconductors
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for forming conformal silicon nitride films at low temperatures on a substrate are provided. The methods of forming a silicon nitride layer include performing a deposition cycle including flowing a processing gas mixture into a processing chamber having a substrate therein, wherein the processing gas mixture comprises precursor gas molecules having labile silicon to nitrogen, silicon to carbon, or nitrogen to carbon bonds, activating the precursor gas at a temperature between about 20° C. to about 480° C. by preferentially breaking labile bonds to provide one or more reaction sites along a precursor gas molecule, forming a precursor material layer on the substrate, wherein the activated precursor gas molecules bond with a surface on the substrate at the one or more reaction sites, and performing a plasma treatment process on the precursor material layer to form a conformal silicon nitride layer.

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