Tensile dielectric films using UV curing
US9659769B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 22, 2004 |
| Grant date | May 23, 2017 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 15, 2032 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01L21/477
- WIPO fieldSemiconductors
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A highly tensile dielectric layer is generated on a heat sensitive substrate while not exceeding thermal budget constraints. Ultraviolet (UV) irradiation is used to produce highly tensile films to be used, for example, in strained NMOS transistor architectures. UV curing of as-deposited PECVD silicon nitride films, for example, has been shown to produce films with stresses of at least 1.65 E10 dynes/cm2. Other dielectric capping layer film materials show similar results. In transistor implementations, the stress from a source/drain region capping layer composed of such a film is uniaxially transferred to the NMOS channel through the source-drain regions to create tensile strain in the NMOS channel.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.