Patent · US Active

Method for surface roughness reduction after silicon germanium thin film deposition

US9425046B1 · kind B1 · utility

5Cited by
1References
23Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJul 18, 2014
Grant dateAug 23, 2016
Priority date
Expiry dateJul 26, 2034

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH10N70/884
  • WIPO fieldSemiconductors
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Techniques for processing silicon germanium (SiGe) thin films to reduce surface roughness thereof are provided herein. In an aspect, a method is disclosed that includes depositing a silicon germanium (SiGe) material upon a surface of a substrate at or below about 450 degrees Celsius, the substrate having a plurality of CMOS devices therein and forming, from the deposited SiGe material, a SiGe material film, wherein the SiGe material film has a jagged surface comprising projections and indentations extended along a direction substantially perpendicular to the surface of the substrate. The method further includes performing a chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) process to the jagged surface of the SiGe material, and reducing variations between the projections and the indentions along the direction substantially perpendicular to the surface of the substrate, and transforming the jagged surface of the SiGe material into a relatively smooth surface, compared to the jagged surface.

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