Patent US6077571A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US6077571A
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Conformal pure and doped aluminum coatings and a methodology and apparatus for their preparation
Assignee: Research Foundation of the State University of New York
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Filing: 1995-12-19
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Granted: 2000-06-20
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Expires: 2015-12-19
Abstract
Abstract The present invention relates to a process and apparatus for the formation of conformal pure aluminum and doped aluminum coatings on a patterned substrate. It is directed to the use of low temperature thermal and plasma-promoted chemical vapor deposition techniques with biased substrate to provide conformal layers and bilayers comprised of pure Al and/or doped Al (e.g., Al with 0.5 at % copper) on semiconductor device substrates with patterned holes, vias, and trenches with aggressive aspect ratios (hole depth/hole width ratios). The use of the plasma-promoted CVD (PPCVD) process, which employs low plasma power densities, allows the growth of aluminum films with the smooth surface morphology and small grain size necessary for ULSI applications, while substrate bias provides superior coverage and complete aluminum fill of features intrinsic in microelectronic device manufacture. Aluminum doping is achieved by in-situ deposition by PPCVD of sequential bilayers of Al and Cu followed by in-situ annealing, or in-situ simultaneous PPCVD deposition of copper-doped aluminum.
Inventors
- 👤 Alain E. Kaloyeros
- 👤 Jonathan Faltermeier
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 03:06
CPC Classifications
C; C23; C23C; C23C14/00; C23C14/06; C23C14/14; C23C14/16; C23C16/00; C23C16/06; C23C16/18; C23C16/20; C23C16/44; C23C16/50; C23C16/505; C23C16/507; C23C16/511; H; H10; H10P; H10P14/00; H10P14/40; H10P14/42; H10P14/43
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 27
Claim 1
Independent Claim
91 words
A chemical vapor deposition process for the in-situ preparation of a conformal layer comprising aluminum on a substrate in a reactor comprising the steps of: a. applying an electrical bias to the substrate; b. heating the substrate to a temperature of less than 500° C.; c. generating a vapor flow of at least one aluminum source precursor vapor; d. optionally forming a plasma having a power density of 0.005 to 0.025 W/cm 2 within the reactor; and e. depositing on the substrate a coating comprising a first conformal layer comprising aluminum.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
91 words
A chemical vapor deposition process for the in-situ preparation of a conformal layer comprising aluminum on a substrate in a reactor comprising the steps of: a. applying an electrical bias to the substrate; b. heating the substrate to a temperature of less than 500° C.; c. generating a vapor flow of at least one aluminum source precursor vapor; d. optionally forming a plasma having a power density of 0.005 to 0.025 W/cm 2 within the reactor; and e. depositing on the substrate a coating comprising a first conformal layer comprising aluminum.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
23 words
The process of claim 1, wherein the plasma having a power density ranging from 0.005 W/cm 2 to 0.025 W/cm 2 is formed.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
31 words
The process of claim 2, wherein the plasma is selected from the group consisting of radio frequency plasma, low frequency plasma, electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma, and inductively coupled plasma (ICP).
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
23 words
The process of claim 1, wherein the electrical bias has a power density ranging from 0.0003 W/cm 2 to 0.031 W/cm 2 .
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
25 words
The process of claim 1, wherein the vapor flow additionally comprises a gas chosen from hydrogen, helium, argon, xenon, nitrogen, ammonia or a mixture thereof.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
14 words
The process of claim 1, wherein the substrate is biased by an alternating current.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
19 words
The process of claim 6, wherein the alternating current has a frequency chosen from 90-450 khz and radio frequency.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
34 words
The process of claim 1, additionally comprising the step of generating a flow of at least one copper source precursor vapor, and wherein the coating comprises a first conformal layer comprising aluminum and copper.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
15 words
The process of claim 8, wherein the coating contains less than 10 atomic percent copper.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
33 words
The process of claim 8, wherein said copper source precursor is selected from the group consisting of copper(I)-tert-butoxide-tetramers, cyclopentadienyl copper (I)-phosphine compounds, ligand stabilized copper (I) β-diketonates, copper (II) β-diketonates and copper ketenimidates.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
13 words
The process of claim 8, wherein said copper source precursor is copper N,N'-dimethylketenimidate.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
14 words
The process of claim 8, wherein said copper source precursor is copper (II) hexafluoroacetylacetonate.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
39 words
The process of claim 1, additionally comprising the step of generating a flow of at least one copper source precursor vapor, and wherein the coating comprises a second conformal layer comprising copper over the first conformal layer comprising aluminum.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
27 words
The process of claim 13, additionally comprising the step of annealing the first and second conformal layers to form a single conformal layer comprising a copper/aluminum alloy.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
19 words
The process of claim 1, wherein said aluminum source precursor is a trialkyl aluminum or a dialkyl aluminum hydride.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
23 words
The process of claim 15, wherein said alkyl is selected from the group consisting of methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, isopropyl, n-butyl, isobutyl, and tert-butyl.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
18 words
The process of claim 15, wherein said aluminum source precursor is diethylaluminum hydride, dimethylaluminum hydride, or ethylmethylaluminum hydride.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
14 words
The process of claim 11, wherein said aluminum source precursor is an aluminum halide.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
17 words
The process of claim 18, wherein the aluminum halide is aluminum trichloride, aluminum tribromide, or aluminum triiodide.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
14 words
The process of claim 1, wherein said aluminum source precursor is an aluminum tris(β-diketonate).
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
14 words
The process of claim 1, wherein said aluminum source precursor is a trialkylamine alane.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
20 words
The process of claim 21, wherein said aluminum source precursor is triethylamine alane, trimethylamine alane, diethylmethylamine alane, or dimethylethylamine alane.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
99 words
A chemical vapor deposition process for the in-situ preparation of a conformal layer comprising aluminum on a substrate in a reactor comprising the steps of: a. applying to the substrate an electrical bias having a power density of 0.031 W/cm 2 ; b. heating the substrate to a temperature of 70-250° C.; c. generating a flow of an aluminum source precursor vapor chosen from dimethylethylaluminum alane and dimethylaluminum hydride; d. forming a plasma having a power density of 0.025 W/cm 2 within the reactor; and e. depositing on the substrate a coating comprising a first conformal layer comprising aluminum.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
99 words
A chemical vapor deposition process for the in-situ preparation of a conformal layer comprising aluminum on a substrate in a reactor comprising the steps of: a. applying to the substrate an electrical bias having a power density of 0.031 W/cm 2 ; b. heating the substrate to a temperature of 70-250° C.; c. generating a flow of an aluminum source precursor vapor chosen from dimethylethylaluminum alane and dimethylaluminum hydride; d. forming a plasma having a power density of 0.025 W/cm 2 within the reactor; and e. depositing on the substrate a coating comprising a first conformal layer comprising aluminum.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
35 words
The process of claim 23, additionally comprising the step of generating a flow of a copper source precursor vapor chosen from copper (II) hexafluoroacetylacetonate and copper N-N'-dimethylketenimidate, wherein the first conformal layer additionally comprises copper.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
42 words
The process of claim 23, additionally comprising the step of generating a flow of a copper source precursor vapor chosen from copper (II) hexafluoroacetylacetonate and copper N-N'-dimethylketenimidate, wherein the coating comprises a second conformal layer comprising copper over the first conformal layer.
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