Process for selective deposition of tungsten on semiconductor wafer

Claim 2

An improved process for the selective deposition of tungsten on a masked semiconductor wafer in a vacuum apparatus comprising a vacuum cleaning chamber connected through an air-tight passageway to a CVD chamber which comprises: a) cleaning the surfaces of the wafer in said vacuum cleaning chamber while maintaining said chamber at a pressure within a range of from about 1 milliTorr to about 500 milliTorr, by flowing one or more cleaning gases selected from the group consisting of H 2 and a halogen-containing gas into said chamber for a period of from about 5 to bout 300 seconds, while using a plasma within a power range of from about 1 to about 200 watts, and while maintaining said wafer at a temperature within a range of from about 20° to about 80° C.; b) cleaning said CVD chamber prior to transfer of said cleaned wafer thereto by using an NF 3 plasma followed by an H 2 plasma to remove any tungsten residues from prior depositions; c) transferring said cleaned wafer from said cleaning chamber to said CVD chamber through an air-tight passageway between said respective chambers in which one or more non-oxidizing gases selected from the group consisting of argon, helium, nitrogen, and hydrogen and mixtures thereof are present to exclude moisture or oxidizing gases to thereby permit subsequent selective tungsten deposition on the clean surfaces on the wafer without exposing the cleaned wafer to conditions which would recontaminate the cleaned wafer prior to said selective deposition; and d) selectively depositing a CVD layer of tungsten on the unmasked surfaces of the wafer by flowing a tungsten-containing gas and a reducing gas through said CVD chamber.

Claim 3

The process of claim 1 including the additional step of flowing a non-reactive gas selected from the group consisting of helium and argon through said cleaning chamber for a period of at least about 5 seconds after shutoff of the flow of said cleaning gas into said chamber to remove any residues remaining from said cleaning step.

Claim 4

An improved process for the selective deposition of tungsten on a masked semiconductor wafer which comprises: a) cleaning the surfaces of said wafer in a cleaning chamber under vacuum by the steps of: i) inserting said wafer into a cleaning chamber maintained at a pressure within a range of from about 1 to about 500 milliTorr; ii) heating said wafer to a temperature within a range of from about 20° to about 80° C.; iii) flowing into said chamber for from about 20 to about 300 seconds, a gas mixture comprising a cleaning gas selected from the class consisting of H 2 , BCl 3 , SF 6 , and NF 3 ; iv) igniting a plasma in said chamber within a power range of from about 20 to about 100 watts while said gas mixture containing said cleaning gas is flowing into said chamber; and v) then flowing a non-reactive gas through said chamber, while maintaining said plasma in said chamber, for at least 5 seconds after flow of said cleaning gas into said chamber is shut off to remove residues from said chamber; b) transferring the cleaned wafer from said cleaning chamber to a CVD chamber through an air-tight passageway between said respective chambers in which one or more non-oxidizing gases are flowing to exclude moisture or oxidizing gases from said passageway to thereby permit subsequent selective tungsten deposition on the clean surfaces on the wafer without exposing the cleaned wafer to conditions which would recontaminate the cleaned wafer prior to said selective deposition; and c) selectively depositing a CVD layer of tungsten on the unmasked surfaces of said cleaned wafer by exposing said surfaces to a mixture of WF 6 and a reducing gas selected from the class consisting of H 2 and SiH 4 .

Claim 5

An improved process for the selective deposition of tungsten on a masked semiconductor wafer which comprises: a) cleaning the surfaces of said wafer in a cleaning chamber under vacuum by the steps of: i) inserting said wafer into a cleaning chamber maintained at a pressure within a range of from about 1 to about 500 milliTorr; ii) heating said wafer to a temperature within a range of from about 20° to about 80° C.; iii) flowing into said chamber for from about 20 to about 300 seconds, a gas mixture comprising a cleaning gas selected from the class consisting of H 2 , BCl 3 , SF 6 , and NF 3 ; iv) igniting a plasma in said chamber within a power range of from about 20 to about 100 watts while said gas mixture containing said cleaning gas is flowing into said chamber; and v) then flowing a non-reactive gas through said chamber, while maintaining said plasma in said chamber, for at least 5 seconds after flow of said cleaning gas into said chamber is shut off to remove residues from said chamber; b) transferring the cleaned wafer from said cleaning chamber to a CVD chamber through an air-tight passageway between said respective chambers in which one or more non-oxidizing gases are flowing to exclude moisture or oxidizing gases from said passageway to thereby permit subsequent selective tungsten deposition on the clean surfaces on the wafer without exposing the cleaned wafer to conditions which would recontaminate the cleaned wafer prior to said selective deposition; and c) selectively depositing a CVD layer of tungsten on the unmasked surfaces of said cleaned wafer by exposing said surfaces to a mixture of WF 6 and a reducing gas selected from the class consisting of H 2 and SiH 4 .

Claim 6

The process of claim 3 wherein said step of flowing one or more non-oxidizing gases through said air-tight passageway comprises flowing said one or more gases selected from the group consisting of argon, helium, nitrogen, hydrogen, and mixtures of same through said passageway at a rate of at least about 100 sccm, while maintaining the pressure in said air-tight passageway within a range of from about 10 -2 to about 10 -3 milliTorr.

Claim 7

The process of claim 3 including the further step of flowing one or more non-oxidizing gases through said passageway at a rate of at least about 20 sccm.

Claim 8

The process of claim 5 wherein said step of flowing one or more non-oxidizing gases through said passageway further comprises flowing a non-oxidizing gas selected from the class consisting of argon, helium, nitrogen, hydrogen, and mixtures of same.

Claim 9

The process of claim 5 wherein said step of flowing one or more non-oxidizing gases through said passageway further comprises maintaining a partial pressure of impurities in said non-oxidizing gas at 10 -2 milliTorr or less.

Claim 10

The process of claim 3 wherein said cleaning step further comprises cleaning the surfaces of said wafer in said cleaning chamber using a gaseous mixture which includes hydrogen gas to remove contaminants including oxides and moisture from the surfaces of said wafer.

Claim 11

The process of claim 1 which further comprises maintaining a plasma within said cleaning chamber within a range of from about 1 to about 100 watts during said cleaning step.

Claim 12

The process of claim 1 including the further step of flowing one or more non-oxidizing gases through said air-tight passageway at a rate of at least about 20 sccm.

Claim 13

The process of claim 1 which further comprises maintaining a plasma within said cleaning chamber within a range of from about 1 to about 200 watts during said cleaning step.

Claim 14

The process of claim 1 wherein said cleaning gas is selected from the class consisting of hydrogen and a halogen-containing gas.

Claim 15

The process of claim 1 wherein said step of selectively depositing said tungsten further comprises flowing into said CVD chamber WF 6 and a reducing gas selected from the class consisting of H 2 and SiH 4 .

Claim 16

An improved process for the selective deposition of tungsten on a masked semiconductor wafer in a vacuum apparatus comprising a vacuum cleaning chamber connected through an air-tight passageway to a CVD chamber which comprises: a) cleaning the surfaces of the wafer in said vacuum cleaning chamber while maintaining said chamber at a pressure within a range of from about 1 milliTorr to about 500 milliTorr, by flowing one or more cleaning gases selected from the group consisting of H 2 and a halogen-containing gas into said chamber for a period of from about 5 to about 300 seconds, while using a plasma within a power range of from about 1 to about 200 watts, and while maintaining said wafer at a temperature within a range of from about 20° to about 80° C.; b) cleaning said CVD chamber prior to transfer of said cleaned wafer thereto by using an NF 3 plasma followed by an H 2 plasma to remove any tungsten residues from prior depositions; c) transferring said cleaned wafer from said cleaning chamber to said CVD chamber through an air-tight passageway between said respective chambers maintained at a vacuum of from about 10 -2 to about 10 -5 milliTorr to exclude moisture or oxidizing gases to thereby permit subsequent selective tungsten deposition on the clean surfaces on the wafer without exposing the cleaned wafer to conditions which would recontaminate the cleaned wafer prior to said selective deposition; and d) selectively depositing a CVD layer of tungsten on the unmasked surfaces of the wafer by flowing a tungsten-containing gas and a reducing gas through said CVD chamber.

Claim 17

An improved process for the selective deposition of tungsten on a masked semiconductor wafer in a vacuum apparatus comprising a vacuum cleaning chamber connected through an air-tight passageway to a CVD chamber which comprises: a) cleaning the surfaces of the wafer in said vacuum cleaning chamber while maintaining said chamber at a pressure within a range of from about 1 milliTorr to about 500 milliTorr, by flowing one or more cleaning gases selected from the group consisting of H 2 and a halogen-containing gas into said chamber for a period of from about 5 to about 300 seconds, while using a plasma within a power range of from about 1 to about 200 watts, and while maintaining said wafer at a temperature within a range of from about 20° to about 80° C.; b) cleaning said CVD chamber prior to transfer of said cleaned wafer thereto by using an NF 3 plasma followed by an H 2 plasma to remove any tungsten residues from prior depositions; c) transferring said cleaned wafer from said cleaning chamber to said CVD chamber through an air-tight passageway between said respective chambers maintained at a vacuum of from about 10 -2 to about 10 -5 milliTorr to exclude moisture or oxidizing gases to thereby permit subsequent selective tungsten deposition on the clean surfaces on the wafer without exposing the cleaned wafer to conditions which would recontaminate the cleaned wafer prior to said selective deposition; and d) selectively depositing a CVD layer of tungsten on the unmasked surfaces of the wafer by flowing a tungsten-containing gas and a reducing gas through said CVD chamber.

Claim 18

An improved process for the selective deposition of tungsten on a masked semiconductor wafer which comprises: a) cleaning the surfaces of said wafer in a cleaning chamber under vacuum by the steps of: i) inserting said wafer into a cleaning chamber maintained at a pressure within a range of from about 1 to about 500 milliTorr; ii) heating said wafer to a temperature within a range of from about 20° to about 80° C.; iii) flowing into said chamber for from about 20 to about 300 seconds, a gas mixture comprising a cleaning gas selected from the class consisting of H 2 , BCl 3 , SF 6 , and NF 3 ; iv) igniting a plasma in said chamber within a power range of from about 20 to about 100 watts while said gas mixture containing said cleaning gas is flowing into said chamber; and v) then flowing a non-reactive gas selected from the group consisting of helium and argon through said chamber, while maintaining said plasma in said chamber, for at least 5 seconds after flow of said cleaning gas into said chamber is shut off to remove residues from said chamber; b) transferring the cleaned wafer from said cleaning chamber to a CVD chamber through an air-tight passageway between said respective chambers maintained at a vacuum of from about 10 -2 to about 10 -5 milliTorr to therefore exclude moisture or oxidizing gases from contacting said cleaned wafer in said passageway to thereby permit subsequent selective tungsten deposition on the clean surfaces on the wafer without exposing the cleaned wafer to conditions which would recontaminate the cleaned wafer prior to said selective deposition; and c) selectively depositing a CVD layer of tungsten on the unmasked surfaces of said cleaned wafer by exposing said surfaces to a mixture of WF 6 and a reducing gas selected from the group consisting of H 2 and SiH 4 .

Claim 19

An improved process for the selective deposition of tungsten on a masked semiconductor wafer which comprises: a) cleaning the surfaces of said wafer in a cleaning chamber under vacuum by the steps of: i) inserting said wafer into a cleaning chamber maintained at a pressure within a range of from about 1 to about 500 milliTorr; ii) heating said wafer to a temperature within a range of from about 20° to about 80° C.; iii) flowing into said chamber for from about 20 to about 300 seconds, a gas mixture comprising a cleaning gas selected from the class consisting of H 2 , BCl 3 , SF 6 , and NF 3 ; iv) igniting a plasma in said chamber within a power range of from about 20 to about 100 watts while said gas mixture containing said cleaning gas is flowing into said chamber; and v) then flowing a non-reactive gas selected from the group consisting of helium and argon through said chamber, while maintaining said plasma in said chamber, for at least 5 seconds after flow of said cleaning gas into said chamber is shut off to remove residues from said chamber; b) transferring the cleaned wafer from said cleaning chamber to a CVD chamber through an air-tight passageway between said respective chambers maintained at a vacuum of from about 10 -2 to about 10 -5 milliTorr to therefore exclude moisture or oxidizing gases from contacting said cleaned wafer in said passageway to thereby permit subsequent selective tungsten deposition on the clean surfaces on the wafer without exposing the cleaned wafer to conditions which would recontaminate the cleaned wafer prior to said selective deposition; and c) selectively depositing a CVD layer of tungsten on the unmasked surfaces of said cleaned wafer by exposing said surfaces to a mixture of WF 6 and a reducing gas selected from the group consisting of H 2 and SiH 4 .