PECVD method of depositing fluorine doped oxide using a fluorine precursor containing a glass-forming element

Claim 1

A method of forming a layer of fluorosilicate glass above a semiconductor substrate comprising the steps of: simultaneously introducing into a reaction chamber and mixing in a mixing ratio a set of gases comprising an oxygen precursor gas, a fluorine precursor gas and a source of hydrogen; forming and maintaining a plasma in said reaction chamber, whereby said plasma interacts with at least one of said precursor gases; and forming said layer of fluorosilicate glass containing a portion of fluorine by the incorporation of radicals comprising a fluorine atom and another atom from said fluorine precursor gas, in which the ratio R F-O of Si--F bonds to Si--O bonds in said fluorosilicate glass is greater than 1/200 and in which said fluorine precursor gas is selected from the group of gases comprising at least one atom of fluorine and a least one atom of a glass-forming element selected from the group consisting of Si, B, P, Ge, As, Se, Sb, In, Tl, Sn, or Pb.

Claim 2

A method of forming a layer of fluorosilicate glass above a semiconductor substrate comprising the steps of: simultaneously introducing into a reaction chamber and mixing in a mixing ratio a set of gases comprising an oxygen precursor gas, a fluorine precursor gas and a source of hydrogen; forming and maintaining a plasma in said reaction chamber, whereby said plasma interacts with at least one of said precursor gases; and forming said layer of fluorosilicate glass containing a portion of fluorine by the incorporation of radicals comprising a fluorine atom and another atom from said fluorine precursor gas, in which the ratio R F-O of Si--F bonds to Si--O bonds in said fluorosilicate glass is greater than 1/200 and in which said fluorine precursor gas is selected from the group of gases comprising at least one atom of fluorine and a least one atom of a glass-forming element selected from the group consisting of Si, B, P, Ge, As, Se, Sb, In, Tl, Sn, or Pb.

Claim 11

A method according to any of claims 1-3, in which said plasma is formed by RF power applied at a first frequency and simultaneously RF power is applied at a second frequency.

Claim 14

A method of forming a layer of fluorosilicate glass above a semiconductor substrate comprising the steps of: simultaneously introducing into a reaction chamber and mixing in a mixing ratio a set of precursor gases comprising an oxygen precursor gas and at least one precursor gas for silicon and fluorine; forming and maintaining a plasma in said reaction chamber, whereby said plasma interacts with at least one of said precursor gases; and forming said layer of fluorosilicate glass containing a portion of fluorine by the incorporation of radicals comprising a fluorine atom and another atom from said fluorine precursor gas, wherein the improvement comprises: mixing a fluorine precursor gas that also contains a glass-forming atom selected from the group consisting of Si, B, P, Ge, As, Se, Sb, In, Tl, Sn, or Pb together with said oxygen precursor gas; mixing a hydrogen precursor gas with said set of precursor gases, whereby hydrogen from said hydrogen precursor gas is available to react with dissociated atoms from said fluorine precursor gas; and in which the precursor gases are combined such that the ratio R F-O of Si--F bonds to Si--O bonds in said fluorosilicate glass is greater than 1/200.

Claim 15

A method of forming a layer of fluorosilicate glass above a semiconductor substrate comprising the steps of: simultaneously introducing into a reaction chamber and mixing in a mixing ratio a set of precursor gases comprising an oxygen precursor gas and at least one precursor gas for silicon and fluorine; forming and maintaining a plasma in said reaction chamber, whereby said plasma interacts with at least one of said precursor gases; and forming said layer of fluorosilicate glass containing a portion of fluorine by the incorporation of radicals comprising a fluorine atom and another atom from said fluorine precursor gas, wherein the improvement comprises: mixing a fluorine precursor gas that also contains a glass-forming atom selected from the group consisting of Si, B, P, Ge, As, Se, Sb, In, Tl, Sn, or Pb together with said oxygen precursor gas; mixing a hydrogen precursor gas with said set of precursor gases, whereby hydrogen from said hydrogen precursor gas is available to react with dissociated atoms from said fluorine precursor gas; and in which the precursor gases are combined such that the ratio R F-O of Si--F bonds to Si--O bonds in said fluorosilicate glass is greater than 1/200.

Claim 21

A method according to any of claims 13 or 14, in which said plasma is formed by RF power applied at a first frequency and simultaneously RF power is applied at a second frequency.