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US6495436B2
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Formation of metal oxide gate dielectric
Assignee: Micron Technology Inc
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Filing: 2001-02-09
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Granted: 2002-12-17
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Expires: 2021-02-09
Abstract
Abstract Formation of a gate dielectric includes forming a metal oxide on at least a portion of the surface of the substrate assembly by electron beam evaporation. An ion beam is generated using an inert gas to provide inert gas ions for compacting the metal oxide during formation thereof.
Inventors
- 👤 Kie Y. Ahn
- 👤 Leonard Forbes
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 00:53
CPC Classifications
H; H10; H10P; H10P14/00; H10P14/60; H10P14/63; H10P14/6326; H10P14/6328; H10P14/6332; C; C23; C23C; C23C14/00; C23C14/06; C23C14/08; C23C14/081; C23C14/083; C23C14/22; H10D; H10D64/00; H10D64/01; H10D64/013; H10D64/01302; H10D64/01332; H10D64/01336; H10D64/01342; H10D64/60; H10D64/66; H10D64/68; H10D64/691; H10P14/6329; H10P14/69; H10P14/692; H10P14/6921; H10P14/6928; H10P14/6934; H10P14/6938; H10P14/6939; H10P14/69391; H10P14/69392; H10P14/69394; H10P14/69395; H10P14/69396; H10P14/69397; H10P14/69398
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 31
Claim 1
Independent Claim
81 words
A method for use in fabrication of a gate structure, the method comprising: providing a substrate assembly having a surface located in a vacuum chamber; and forming a gate dielectric on the surface, wherein forming the gate dielectric comprises: forming a metal oxide on at least a portion of the surface of the substrate assembly by electron beam evaporation, and generating an ion beam using an inert gas to provide inert gas ions for contacting the metal oxide during formation thereof.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
81 words
A method for use in fabrication of a gate structure, the method comprising: providing a substrate assembly having a surface located in a vacuum chamber; and forming a gate dielectric on the surface, wherein forming the gate dielectric comprises: forming a metal oxide on at least a portion of the surface of the substrate assembly by electron beam evaporation, and generating an ion beam using an inert gas to provide inert gas ions for contacting the metal oxide during formation thereof.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
46 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises providing an environment including oxygen in the vacuum chamber, wherein forming the metal oxide on at least a portion of the surface of the substrate assembly includes forming the metal oxide in the oxygen environment.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 2 , wherein providing the environment including oxygen includes providing an ozone environment in the vacuum chamber.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
38 words
The method of claim 3 , wherein providing an ozone environment in the vacuum chamber includes providing an ozonizer structure proximate the substrate assembly surface, the ozonizer structure having openings to direct ozone towards the substrate assembly surface.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises heating the substrate assembly as the metal oxide is formed.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises delaying contact of the inert gas ions with the metal oxide until at least a monolayer of metal oxide is formed.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
55 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the metal oxide is selected from the group consisting of TiO 2 , Y 2 O 3 , Al 2 O 3 , ZrO 2 , HfO 2 , Y 2 O 3 —ZrO 2 , ZrSiO 4 , LaAlO 3 , and MgAl 2 O 4 .
Claim 9
Independent Claim
94 words
A method for use in fabrication of a gate structure, the method comprising: providing a substrate assembly having a surface located in a vacuum chamber; and forming a gate dielectric on the surface, wherein forming the gate dielectric comprises: providing an environment including ozone in the vacuum chamber, forming TiO 2 on at least a portion of the surface of the substrate assembly by electron beam evaporation in the environment including ozone, and generating an ion beam using an inert gas to provide inert gas ions for contacting the TiO 2 during formation thereof.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
94 words
A method for use in fabrication of a gate structure, the method comprising: providing a substrate assembly having a surface located in a vacuum chamber; and forming a gate dielectric on the surface, wherein forming the gate dielectric comprises: providing an environment including ozone in the vacuum chamber, forming TiO 2 on at least a portion of the surface of the substrate assembly by electron beam evaporation in the environment including ozone, and generating an ion beam using an inert gas to provide inert gas ions for contacting the TiO 2 during formation thereof.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
39 words
The method of claim 8 , wherein providing an environment including ozone in the vacuum chamber includes providing an ozonizer structure proximate the substrate assembly surface, the ozonizer structure having openings to direct ozone towards the substrate assembly surface.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 9 , wherein the ozonizer structure is a ring structure having openings for directing ozone uniformly towards the substrate assembly surface.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
57 words
The method of claim 8 , wherein forming TiO 2 on at least the portion of the surface of the substrate assembly by electron beam evaporation includes directing an electron beam at a high purity TiO 2 source material, wherein the high purity source material has a purity of TiO 2 that is about 99.999% or greater.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
62 words
The method of claim 11 , wherein forming TiO 2 on at least the portion of the surface of the substrate assembly by electron beam evaporation includes directing an electron beam at the high purity TiO 2 source material such that a deposition rate for TiO 2 on the surface of the substrate assembly is about 0.1 nm/second to about 0.2 nm/second.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method of claim 11 , wherein forming a gate dielectric on the surface further includes controlling the pressure of the evaporator chamber within the range of about 2×10 −6 torr to about 8×10 −6 torr.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method of claim 11 , wherein forming a gate dielectric on the surface further includes heating the substrate assembly as the metal oxide is formed within the range of about 100° C. to about 150° C.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
49 words
The method of claim 8 , wherein generating an ion beam using an inert gas to provide inert gas ions for contacting the TiO 2 includes generating an ion beam having an ion beam density in the range of about 0.5 ma/cm 2 to about 1 ma/cm 2 .
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
45 words
The method of claim 8 , wherein generating an ion beam using an inert gas to provide inert gas ions for contacting the TiO 2 includes generating an ion beam using at least one gas selected from a group consisting of argon, xenon, and krypton.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
39 words
The method of claim 8 , wherein the method further comprises delaying contact of the inert gas ions with the metal oxide until at least a monolayer of TiO 2 is formed on the surface of the substrate assembly.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
41 words
The method of claim 8 , wherein forming TiO 2 on at least a portion of the surface of the substrate assembly includes forming TiO 2 directly on at least a silicon containing portion of the surface of the substrate assembly.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
20 words
The method of claim 8 , wherein the method further includes forming a conductive gate electrode on the gate dielectric.
Claim 22
Independent Claim
71 words
A method for forming a high dielectric constant metal oxide in the fabrication of integrated circuits, the method comprising: providing a substrate assembly having a surface located in a vacuum chamber; forming a metal oxide on at least a portion of the surface of the substrate assembly by evaporating a metal oxide source material using an electron beam; and providing contact of inert ions with the metal oxide during formation thereof.
Claim 23
Independent Claim
71 words
A method for forming a high dielectric constant metal oxide in the fabrication of integrated circuits, the method comprising: providing a substrate assembly having a surface located in a vacuum chamber; forming a metal oxide on at least a portion of the surface of the substrate assembly by evaporating a metal oxide source material using an electron beam; and providing contact of inert ions with the metal oxide during formation thereof.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
46 words
The method of claim 20 , wherein the method further comprises providing an environment including oxygen in the vacuum chamber, wherein forming the metal oxide on at least a portion of the surface of the substrate assembly includes forming the metal oxide in the oxygen environment.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 21 , wherein providing the environment including oxygen includes providing an ozone environment in the vacuum chamber.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
38 words
The method of claim 22 , wherein providing an ozone environment in the vacuum chamber includes providing an ozonizer structure proximate the substrate assembly surface, the ozonizer structure having openings to direct ozone towards the substrate assembly surface.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 20 , wherein the method further comprises heating the substrate assembly as the metal oxide is formed.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
30 words
The method of claim 20 , wherein the method further comprises delaying contact of inert ions with the metal oxide until at least a monolayer of metal oxide is formed.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
55 words
The method of claim 20 , wherein the metal oxide is selected from a group consisting of TiO 2 , Y 2 O 3 , Al 2 O 3 , ZrO 2 , HfO 2 , Y 2 O 3 —ZrO 2 , ZrSiO 4 , LaAlO 3 , and MgAl 2 O 4 .
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 20 , wherein the metal oxide is at least a portion of a gate dielectric.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 20 , wherein the metal oxide is at least a portion of a dielectric material for a capacitor.
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| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2005-12-16 | 2006-06-17 | 2006-12-17 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2009-12-16 | 2010-06-17 | 2010-12-17 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
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