Patent US5908791A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
Patent US5395650A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US5395650A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Selective, low-temperature chemical vapor deposition of gold
Assignee: International Business Machines Corp
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Filing: 1993-11-19
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Granted: 1995-03-07
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Expires: 2013-11-19
Abstract
Abstract Gold can be selectively deposited onto a catalytically-activated region on a surface of a workpiece in the presence of a catalytically-inactive region on the surface by a chemical vapor deposition method. The method involves placing the workpiece in a vacuum chamber and evacuating the vacuum chamber to a base pressure equal to or less than a catalyst-activity-preserving upper pressure limit to eliminate effectively gaseous catalyst-deactivating contaminants from the chamber. The surface composition of at least one region of a target surface of the workpiece is altered to produce a catalytically-activated region on the target surface. At least one region of the target surface disjoint from the catalytically-activated region is a catalytically-inactive region. A gaseous alkylated (trialkylphosphine)gold compound is introduced into the vacuum chamber to expose the target surface of the workpiece to the compound. The vacuum chamber is essentially continuously evacuated during exposure of the target surface to the gold-containing compound to maintain the vacuum chamber effectively free of gaseous catalyst-deactivating contaminants and to sweep gaseous reaction products from the vacuum chamber. The vacuum chamber is maintained effectively free of gaseous reducing agents during exposure of the target surface to the gold-containing compound. The target surface of the workpiece is maintained at a selective-deposition temperature which is effective to induce the gaseous gold-containing compound to deposit gold on the catalytically-activated regions of the target surface and to inhibit the compound from depositing gold on the catalytically-inactive regions of the target surface.
Inventors
- 👤 Mark M. B. Holl
- 👤 Steven P. Kowalczyk
- 👤 Fenton R. McFeely
- 👤 Paul F. Seidler
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 03:32
CPC Classifications
C; C23; C23C; C23C16/00; C23C16/06; C23C16/18; C23C16/02; C23C16/0227; C23C16/0236; C23C16/0245; C23C16/0272; C23C16/0281; C23C16/04; H; H10; H10P; H10P14/00; H10P14/40; H10P14/412; H10P14/42; H10P14/43; H10P14/432
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 21
Claim 1
Independent Claim
326 words
A chemical-vapor-deposition method for selectively depositing gold onto a catalytically-activated region on a surface of a workpiece in the presence of a catalytically-inactive region on the surface, comprising the steps of: (a) placing the workpiece in a vacuum chamber, a surface of the workpiece defining a target surface; (b) evacuating the vacuum chamber to a base pressure equal to or less than a catalyst-activity-preserving upper pressure limit to eliminate effectively gaseous catalyst-deactivating contaminants from the vacuum chamber; (c) altering the surface composition of at least one region of the target surface to produce a catalytically-activated region on the target surface, at least one region of the target surface disjoint from the catalytically-activated region being a catalytically-inactive region; (d) introducing a gaseous gold-containing compound into the vacuum chamber to expose the target surface of the workpiece to the compound, the compound being an alkylate (trialkylphosphine) gold compound; (e) essentially continuously evacuating the vacuum chamber during exposure of the target surface to the gold-containing compound to maintain the vacuum chamber effectively free of gaseous catalyst-deactivating contaminants and to sweep gaseous reaction products from the vacuum chamber, the vacuum chamber being maintained effectively free of gaseous reducing agents during exposure of the target surface to the gold-containing compound; and (f) maintaining the target surface of the workpiece at a selective-deposition temperature effective to induce the gaseous gold-containing compound to deposit gold on the catalytically-activated regions of the target surface and to inhibit the compound from depositing gold on the catalytically-inactive regions of the target surface subsequent to altering the surface composition of at least one region as the target surface to produce a catalytically activated region in step (c) and prior to introducing the gaseous gold-containing compound into the vacuum chamber in step (d), introducing a gaseous reversible-catalysts-inhibition agent into the vacuum chamber to expose the target surface of the workpiece to the agent to inhibit the catalytic activity of at least a portion of the catalytically activated region.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
326 words
A chemical-vapor-deposition method for selectively depositing gold onto a catalytically-activated region on a surface of a workpiece in the presence of a catalytically-inactive region on the surface, comprising the steps of: (a) placing the workpiece in a vacuum chamber, a surface of the workpiece defining a target surface; (b) evacuating the vacuum chamber to a base pressure equal to or less than a catalyst-activity-preserving upper pressure limit to eliminate effectively gaseous catalyst-deactivating contaminants from the vacuum chamber; (c) altering the surface composition of at least one region of the target surface to produce a catalytically-activated region on the target surface, at least one region of the target surface disjoint from the catalytically-activated region being a catalytically-inactive region; (d) introducing a gaseous gold-containing compound into the vacuum chamber to expose the target surface of the workpiece to the compound, the compound being an alkylate (trialkylphosphine) gold compound; (e) essentially continuously evacuating the vacuum chamber during exposure of the target surface to the gold-containing compound to maintain the vacuum chamber effectively free of gaseous catalyst-deactivating contaminants and to sweep gaseous reaction products from the vacuum chamber, the vacuum chamber being maintained effectively free of gaseous reducing agents during exposure of the target surface to the gold-containing compound; and (f) maintaining the target surface of the workpiece at a selective-deposition temperature effective to induce the gaseous gold-containing compound to deposit gold on the catalytically-activated regions of the target surface and to inhibit the compound from depositing gold on the catalytically-inactive regions of the target surface subsequent to altering the surface composition of at least one region as the target surface to produce a catalytically activated region in step (c) and prior to introducing the gaseous gold-containing compound into the vacuum chamber in step (d), introducing a gaseous reversible-catalysts-inhibition agent into the vacuum chamber to expose the target surface of the workpiece to the agent to inhibit the catalytic activity of at least a portion of the catalytically activated region.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method according to claim 1 in which the alkylated (trialkylphosphine)gold compound has the formula RAuPR' 3 , where R is a methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, isopropyl, or t-butyl group and R' is a methyl or ethyl group.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method according to claim 2 in which the alkylated (trialkylphosphine)gold compound is selected from the group consisting of methyl(trimethylphosphine)gold(I) and ethyl(trimethylphosphine)gold(I).
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method according to claim 1 in which the alkylated (trialkylphosphine)gold compound has the formula R 3 AuPR' 3 , where R is a methyl or ethyl group and R' is a methyl or ethyl group.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
14 words
The method according to claim 4 in which the alkylated (trialkylphosphine)gold compound is trimethyl(trimethylphosphine)gold(III).
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method according to claim 1 in which the catalytically-activated regions of the target surface of the workpiece comprise regions composed of a metal selected from the group consisting of gold, chromium, cobalt, and copper.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method according to claim 6 in which the catalytically-inactive regions of the target surface of the workpiece comprise regions composed of silicon dioxide.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
62 words
The method according to claim 7 in which the catalytically-activated regions of the target surface of the workpiece comprise regions composed of chromium, the alkylated (trialkylphosphine)gold compound is selected from the group consisting of methyl(trimethylphosphine)gold(I) and ethyl(trimethylphosphine)gold(I), and the target surface of the workpiece is maintained at a selective-deposition temperature in the range of from about 25° C. to about 100° C.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method according to claim 1 in which the catalytically-inactive regions of the target surface of the workpiece comprise regions composed of a polyimide polymer.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method according to claim 9 in which the polyimide polymer is pyromellitic dianhydride oxydianiline polyimide polymer.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
62 words
The method according to claim 10 in which the catalytically-activated regions of the target surface of the workpiece comprise regions composed of chromium, the alkylated (trialkylphosphine)gold compound is selectd from the group consisting of methyl(trimethylphosphine)gold(I) and ethyl(trimethylphosphine)gold(I), and the target surface of the workpiece is maintained at a selective-deposition temperature in the range of from about 25° C. to about 230° C.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
124 words
The method according to claim 1 further including the steps of: positioning a shadow mask proximate to and in registry with the target surface at a position between the target surface and a metal vapor source in the vacuum chamber, the shadow mask having openings passing through the mask which correspond to a desired gold-deposition pattern on the target surface; and heating a metal in the metal vapor source to vaporize the metal, vaporized metal passing through the openings in the shadow mask and depositing on the target surface as a layer of metal catalyst in the form of the desired gold-deposition pattern, the layer of metal catalyst in the form of the gold-deposition pattern defining the catalytically activated region of the target surface.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
149 words
The method according to claim 1 in which the target surface of the workpiece includes a layer of a catalytically-activatable metal patterned in the form of a desired gold-deposition pattern, the patterned metal layer having a coating of a native oxide or other catalysis-deactivating contaminant after placement of the workpiece in the vacuum chamber, and in which the step (c) of altering the surface composition of at least one region of the target surface to produce a catalytically-activated region on the target surface includes the steps of (c.1) generating a plasma in the vacuum chamber; and (c.2) subjecting the target surface of the workpiece to the plasma for a time sufficient to remove sufficient native oxide or other contaminants from the patterned metal layer to activate catalytically the metal layer, the patterned metal layer subjected to the plasma defining the catalytically-activated region of the target surface of the workpiece.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
41 words
The method according to claim 13 in which the catalytically-activatable metal is selected from the group consisting of gold, copper, cobalt, and chromium and the plasma is a hydrogen plasma or an argon plasma, generated with an electron cyclotron resonance source.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
157 words
The method according to claim 1 in which the target surface of the workpiece includes a layer of a catalytically-activatable metal patterned in the form of a desired gold-deposition pattern, the patterned metal layer having a coating of a native oxide or other catalysis-deactivating contaminant after placement of the workpiece in the vacuum chamber, and in which the step (c) of altering the surface composition of at least one region of the target surface to produce a catalytically-activated region on the target surface includes the steps of: (c.1) generating an ion beam and directing it into the vacuum chamber; and (c.2) subjecting the target surface of the workpiece to bombardment by the ion beam for a time sufficient to remove sufficient native oxide or other contaminants from the patterned metal layer to activate catalytically the metal layer, the patterned metal layer subjected to the ion-beam bombardment defining the catalytically-activated region of the target surface of the workpiece.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method according to claim 15 in which the catalytically-activatable metal is selected from the group consisting of gold, copper, cobalt, and chromium and the ion beam is an argon ion beam.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
156 words
The method according to claim 1 in which the target surface of the workpiece includes a layer of a catalytically-activatable metal patterned in the form of a desired gold-deposition pattern, the patterned metal layer having a coating of a native oxide or other catalysis-deactivating contaminant after placement of the workpiece in the vacuum chamber, and in which the step (c) of altering the surface composition of at least one region of the target surface to produce a catalytically-activated region on the target surface includes the steps of: (c.1) introducing a chemically active cleaning agent into the vacuum chamber; and (c.2) subjecting the target surface of the workpiece to the chemically active cleaning agent for a time sufficient to remove sufficient native oxide or other contaminants from the patterned metal layer to activate catalytically the metal layer, the patterned metal layer subjected to the cleaning agent defining the catalytically-activated region of the target surface of the workpiece.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
20 words
The method according to claim 17 in which the catalytically-activatable metal is copper and the chemically-active cleaning agent is hydrogen.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method according to claim 1 in which the reversible-catalysis-inhibition agent is a Lewis acid or a Lewis base.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
44 words
The method according to claim 19 in which the reversible-catalysis-inhibition agent is selected from the group consisting of the Lewis acids boron trifluoride BF 3 and triethyl boron B(CH 2 CH 3 ) 3 and the Lewis base trimethylphosphine P(CH 3 ) 3 .
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
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| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1998-03-06 | 1998-09-05 | 1999-03-07 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2002-03-06 | 2002-09-05 | 2003-03-07 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2006-03-06 | 2006-09-05 | 2007-03-07 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |