EP0097789A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Method of filling trenches in semiconductor substrates with silicon
Assignee: International Business Machines Corp
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Filing: 1983-05-02
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2003-05-02
Abstract
Abstract A relatively deep trench let into a surface of a semiconductor substrate is filled with silicon to provide a void-free isolation region by covering the semiconductor surface into which the trench is let and the base (3) and/or the side walls (4) of the trench with non-nucleating material (7), providing a layer of nucleating material (8) on at least a portion of the surface of the non-nucleating material and growing silicon (9) perpendicularly from the base or sidewalls of the trench.
Inventors
- 👤 Linda Mero Ephrath
- 👤 Victor Joseph Silvestri
- 👤 Denny Duan-Lee Tang
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-31 10:02
CPC Classifications
H; H10; H10P; H10P14/00; H10P14/20; H10P14/24; H10P14/27; H10P14/271; H10P14/29; H10P14/2901; H10P14/2902; H10P14/2905; H10P14/34; H10P14/3402; H10P14/3404; H10P14/3411; H10W; H10W10/00; H10W10/01; H10W10/041; H10W10/40; H10W20/00; H10W20/01; H10W20/021
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 26
Claim 1
Independent Claim
73 words
A method of filling a trench let into a surface of a semiconductor substrate with silicon, comprising the steps of covering the semiconductor surface into which the trench is let and the base and/or the side walls of the trench with non-nucleating material, providing a layer of nucleating material on at least a portion of the surface of the non-nucleating material and growing silicon perpendicularly from the base or sidewalls of the trench.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
73 words
A method of filling a trench let into a surface of a semiconductor substrate with silicon, comprising the steps of covering the semiconductor surface into which the trench is let and the base and/or the side walls of the trench with non-nucleating material, providing a layer of nucleating material on at least a portion of the surface of the non-nucleating material and growing silicon perpendicularly from the base or sidewalls of the trench.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
23 words
A method as claimed in claim 1, in which the sidewalls of the trench are vertical or less than 5° from the vertical.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
35 words
A method as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, in which the ratio of the depth of the trench to the width of the trench between about 3.5 to 1 and 2.5 to 1.
Claim 5
Independent Claim
32 words
A method as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the depth of the trench is about 3.5 to about 4 microns and the width is about 1 to about 2 microns.
Claim 6
Independent Claim
21 words
A method as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the non-nucleating material comprises silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, or aluminium oxide.
Claim 7
Independent Claim
21 words
A method as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the non-nucleating layer is about 0.2 to about 0.5 nm thick.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
23 words
A method as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the layer of nucleating material is about 300 to about 2500 angstroms thick.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
16 words
A method as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the nucleating material is polycrystalline silicon.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
17 words
A method as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the semiconductor substrate is a silicon substrate.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
64 words
10 A method as claimed in any preceding claim, in which (Figs 1 to 6) both the side walls and the base of the trench are covered with the non-nucleating material and the layer of nucleating material is provided on the substrate surface into which the trench is let and on the base of the trench, but not on the sidewalls of the trench.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
51 words
A method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 9, in which (Fig 7) the sidewalls but not the base, of the trench are covered with the non-nucleating material and the nucleating material is provided only on the non-nucleating material covering the substrate surface into which the trench is let.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
56 words
A method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 9, in which (Fig 8) the sidewalls, but not the base, of the trench are covered with the non-nucleating material and the nucleating material is provided on the non-nucleating material covering the sidewalls of the trench and the substrate surface into which the trench is let.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
49 words
A method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 9, in which (Fig 9) the sidewalls, but not the base, of the trench are covered with the non-nucleating material and the layer of nucleating material is provided only on the non-nucleating material covering the sidewalls of the trench.
Claim 15
Independent Claim
46 words
A method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 9, in which (Fig 10) both the base and the sidewalls of the trench are covered with the non-nucleating material and the layer of nucleating material is provided over the whole surface of the non-nucleating material.
Claim 16
Independent Claim
55 words
A method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 9, in which (Fig 11) the sidewalls, but not the base, of the trench are covered with the non-nucleating material and the layer of nucleating material is provided over the whole surface of the non-nucleating material and over the exposed substrate base of the trench.
Claim 17
Independent Claim
57 words
A method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 9, in which (Figs 12 and 13) the base, but not the sidewalls, of the trench is covered with the non-nucleating material and the layer of nucleating material is provided on the uncovered substrate sidewalls of the trench and over the whole surface of the non-nucleating material.
Claim 18
Independent Claim
20 words
A method as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the silicon is grown by a gas-solid heterogeneous reaction system.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
18 words
A method as claimed in claim 17, in which the heterogeneous reaction system includes hydrogen, silicon, and chlorine.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
23 words
A method as claimed in claim 18, in which the heterogeneous reaction system is a combination of SiCl 4 and H 2 .
Claim 21
Independent Claim
26 words
A method as claimed in any of claims 17 to 19, in which the silicon is grown at a temperature between about 900 and about 1100°C.
Claim 22
Independent Claim
26 words
A method as claimed in any of claims 17 to 20, in which the silicon is grown in a period of less than about 20 minutes.
Claim 23
Independent Claim
22 words
A method as claimed in any preceding claim, further comprising planarizing the surface of the structure after the silicon has been grown.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
18 words
A method as claimed in claim 22, in which the planarizing is carried out by reactive ion etching.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
25 words
A method as claimed in claim 23, in which the planarizing is carried out employing a gaseous mixture of 0 2 and CF 4 .
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
30 words
A method as claimed in claim 24, in which the gaseous mixture contains about 20% 0 2 and is at a pressure of about 100 millitorr (13.3 N/m 2 ).
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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