US5409862A — Method for making aluminum single crystal interco…

Claim 1

Independent Claim 115 words

A method of producing a semiconductor device, comprising the steps of: forming a groove having a pattern shape on the surface of a substrate; forming a continuous metal film on the substrate while formation of a native oxide film on the surface of the metal film is suppressed; annealing simultaneously, in a vacuum atmosphere, the entire surface of the metal up to a temperature so that the continuous metal film is completely agglomerated to be discontinuous, in accordance with a desired film thickness, wherein the metal is filled in the groove and all metals in the groove are made in a state of being approximately melted; and forming a single-crystal interconnection layer in the groove.

Claim 2

Independent Claim 115 words

A method of producing a semiconductor device, comprising the steps of: forming a groove having a pattern shape on the surface of a substrate; forming a continuous metal film on the substrate while formation of a native oxide film on the surface of the metal film is suppressed; annealing simultaneously, in a vacuum atmosphere, the entire surface of the metal up to a temperature so that the continuous metal film is completely agglomerated to be discontinuous, in accordance with a desired film thickness, wherein the metal is filled in the groove and all metals in the groove are made in a state of being approximately melted; and forming a single-crystal interconnection layer in the groove.

Claim 3

Independent Claim 131 words

A method of producing a semiconductor device, comprising the steps of: forming a groove having a pattern shape on the surface of a substrate; forming a continuous metal film on the substrate; selectively removing the metal film formed in an area other than the groove; removing a native oxide film formed on the metal film; annealing simultaneously, in a vacuum atmosphere, the entire surface of the metal up to a temperature so that the continuous metal film is completely agglomerated to be discontinuous, in accordance with a desired film thickness, while re-formation of the native oxide film is suppressed, wherein the metal is filled in the groove and all metals in the groove are made in a state of being approximately melted; and forming a single-crystal interconnection layer in the groove.

Claim 4

Independent Claim 131 words

A method of producing a semiconductor device, comprising the steps of: forming a groove having a pattern shape on the surface of a substrate; forming a continuous metal film on the substrate; selectively removing the metal film formed in an area other than the groove; removing a native oxide film formed on the metal film; annealing simultaneously, in a vacuum atmosphere, the entire surface of the metal up to a temperature so that the continuous metal film is completely agglomerated to be discontinuous, in accordance with a desired film thickness, while re-formation of the native oxide film is suppressed, wherein the metal is filled in the groove and all metals in the groove are made in a state of being approximately melted; and forming a single-crystal interconnection layer in the groove.

Claim 5

Independent Claim 173 words

A method of producing a semiconductor device, comprising the steps of: forming a groove having a pattern shape on the surface of a substrate; forming a continuous first metal film on the substrate; agglomerating the first metal film by annealing so as to fill the first metal into at least a portion of the groove while formation of a native oxide film thereon is suppressed; annealing simultaneously, in a vacuum atmosphere, the entire surface of the metal up to a temperature so that the continuous first metal film is completely agglomerated to be discontinuous, in accordance with a desired film thickness, wherein the first metal is filled in the groove and all first metals in the groove are made in a state of being approximately melted; forming preferred-orientation single crystal seeds in the first metal film formed in the groove; forming a preferred-orientation second metal film made of a same material as the first metal film on the single-crystal seeds; and patterning the first and second films to form a preferred-orientation interconnection layer.

Claim 6

Independent Claim 173 words

A method of producing a semiconductor device, comprising the steps of: forming a groove having a pattern shape on the surface of a substrate; forming a continuous first metal film on the substrate; agglomerating the first metal film by annealing so as to fill the first metal into at least a portion of the groove while formation of a native oxide film thereon is suppressed; annealing simultaneously, in a vacuum atmosphere, the entire surface of the metal up to a temperature so that the continuous first metal film is completely agglomerated to be discontinuous, in accordance with a desired film thickness, wherein the first metal is filled in the groove and all first metals in the groove are made in a state of being approximately melted; forming preferred-orientation single crystal seeds in the first metal film formed in the groove; forming a preferred-orientation second metal film made of a same material as the first metal film on the single-crystal seeds; and patterning the first and second films to form a preferred-orientation interconnection layer.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 42 words

The method of claim 1, claim 2 or claim 3, wherein there is provided a process by which at least a portion of the surface of the groove is processed such that a wettability of the surface of the groove is improved.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 24 words

The method of claim 1, claim 2 or claim 3, wherein there is provided a barrier layer between the substrate and the agglomerated film.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 40 words

The method of claim 1, claim 2 or claim 3, after the step of forming the groove, further comprising the step of: a process by which a wettability of the whole surface of the substrate including the groove is improved.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 42 words

The method of claim 1, claim 2 or claim 3, wherein a conductive layer is exposed in the surface of the groove and, further comprising a process by which a wettability of the surface of the substrate excluding the groove is improved.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 34 words

The method of claim 3, including agglomerating the first film so as to form a crystal seed and forming the second film having the same material with the first film, on the crystal seed.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 54 words

The method of claim 1, claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the substrate has a wettability against material formed thereon, so that a contact angle of the material formed on the substrate has an angle less than a critical contact angle, where the filling is performed so as to reduce the surface energy therebetween.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 44 words

The method of claim 2, claim 2 or claim 3, wherein there is used a metal which is deposited on a film which has a preferred wettability against the metal so as to improve the wettability between the film and the metal formed thereon.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 36 words

The method of claim 1, claim 2 or claim 3, wherein there is used, an Al metal for wiring and there is used a carbon (C) or TiN film, for improving wettability against the Al metal.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 57 words

The method of claim 1, claim 2 or claim 3, wherein there is provided a material, which prevents light reflection, such as a carbon (C) film and TiN film, provided in an upper or lower layer of the groove, so as to absorb a light, so that thereafter the groove is filled in by agglomeration with annealing.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 25 words

The method of claim 1, claim 2 or claim 3, wherein impurities are diffused into the metal film so as to further improve wiring reliability.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 66 words

A method according to claim 1, claim 2 or claim 3, wherein: said step of forming a groove forms two grooves which are spaced apart from each other by a space; said step of forming a metal film forms the metal film in both grooves and completely covers said space; and wherein said agglomerating step fills in the metal film in both of said two grooves.

Claim 18

Independent Claim 134 words

A method of producing a semiconductor device, comprising the steps of: forming a continuous first metal film on a substrate having a flat surface; making all metals on the flat surface of the substrate in a state of being approximately melted, by annealing simultaneously, in a vacuum atmosphere, the entire surface of the first metal up to a temperature so that the continuous first metal film is completely agglomerated to be discontinuous, in accordance with a desired film thickness, while formation of a native oxide film on the surface of the first metal film is suppressed; forming preferred-orientation single-crystal metal seeds; forming a preferred-orientation second metal film made of a same material as the first metal film on the single-crystal seeds; and patterning the first and second films to form a preferred-orientation interconnection layer.

Claim 19

Independent Claim 134 words

A method of producing a semiconductor device, comprising the steps of: forming a continuous first metal film on a substrate having a flat surface; making all metals on the flat surface of the substrate in a state of being approximately melted, by annealing simultaneously, in a vacuum atmosphere, the entire surface of the first metal up to a temperature so that the continuous first metal film is completely agglomerated to be discontinuous, in accordance with a desired film thickness, while formation of a native oxide film on the surface of the first metal film is suppressed; forming preferred-orientation single-crystal metal seeds; forming a preferred-orientation second metal film made of a same material as the first metal film on the single-crystal seeds; and patterning the first and second films to form a preferred-orientation interconnection layer.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	1998-04-24	1998-10-24	1999-04-25	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2002-04-24	2002-10-24	2003-04-25	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2006-04-24	2006-10-24	2007-04-25	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Method for making aluminum single crystal interconnections on insulators

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