FILM DEPOSITION

Epitaxial growth
Growth

of single crystal semiconductor layer over a single crystal semiconductor substrate. Two types:
Homoepitaxy. Heteroepitaxy.

Substrate
CVD MBE

wafer acts as the seed. Common techniques:

CVD
Chemical

Vapour Deposition Method: chemical reaction between gaseous compounds. In cases gas sources are not available, a carrier gas such as H2 or N2 is bubbled through the liquid that carries vapors to chamber Also known as vapour-phase epitaxy. Two variations:
APCVD LPCVD.

Example of CVD used in fabrication

Dielectrics:

HfO2, SiO2, TiO2 Gate electrode: polysilicon Metal interconnects: Copper Diffusion Barriers: TiN, TaN Contact plugs: Tungsten (W) Silicides

Steps involved in CVD

Transportation of reactants to substrate. Reactor adsorption Chemical reaction followed by epitaxial growth. Desorption of gaseous products. Transportation of reaction products from reaction chamber.

Analyzing CVD

Although CVD process is quite complicated, we can analyze by just considering two important steps:

Diffusion of reactants across boundary layer (Flux J1) Reaction at surface (Flux J2)

Similar to Deal Grove (recall oxidation!) we can analyze the process at equilibrium

J1 = HG(CG CS) where HG is the mass transfer coefficient J2 = Ks CS where Ks is the surface reaction rate

 In

steady state, J1 = J2 If kS << hG , then we have the surface reaction controlled case If hG << kS, then we have the mass transfer, or gas phase diffusion, controlled case

Silicon CVD
Main

sources:

Silicon

tetrachloride Dichlorosilane Trichlorosilane Silane

Commonly

uses SiCl4high temp. process. Others used because of lower temperature. SiCl4 + 2H2 Si (solid) + 4HCl (gas) Accompanying reaction: SiCl4 + Si (solid) 2SiCl2 (gas)

Gallium Arsenide CVD

Similar

to Si CVD process. Ga and As dissociates at high temperature. Use As4 and GaCl3 for both components.

Metal Organic CVD

For

elements:

That

do not form stable hydrides and halides. That form stable metal-organic compounds.
Extensively

for heteroepitaxial growth. Major problems with MOCVD has been carbon contamination and particulates which are detrimental to electrical characteristics (especially for hot-wall reactors); the hazards of the reactor gases is also significant

MBE

Evaporation of Si (or any other semiconductor) and desired dopants under very high vacuum (10-8 Torr) and low Temp (4000 - 8000C) .

Predominantly used for III-V semiconductors

Atoms or molecules are directed to heated substrate in ultra high vacuum (UHV) By utilizing very low growth rates ( 1m/hour) can tailor doping profiles and composition on a monolayer scale.

 Advantages
Low

deposition temp Precise control of layer thickness and doping profile (excellent uniformity) Versatile (used for fabricating heterostructures, quantum wells, etc) In-situ cleaning and characterization
High

temp. baking to decompose native oxygen. Low energy ion beam of inert gas to sputter impurity.

Disadvantage:
Expensive

(UHV), very slow deposition

 Lattice

matched epitaxy: homoepitaxy. Two cases of heteroepitaxy:

Lattice

matched. Strained-layer.

Defects in epitaxial layers

Defects

from substrates Defects from interface. Precipitates or dislocation loops. Misoriented areas of an epitaxial film (low angle grain boundary) Edge dislocation
In

heteroepitaxy of two lattice-mismatched semiconductor.

Step Coverage
Relates

surface topography of deposited film to various steps on substrate.

Conformal

step coverage (ideal) Non-conformal step coverage.

Dielectric Deposition
APCVD,

LPCVD, PECVD PECVD: plasma enhanced reaction. Energetic ion bombardment. High density plasma helps to improve electrical and mechanical properties.

SiO2
Quality

not upto that grown by thermal oxidation. Insulator for multilevel metalization, masking ion implantation and diffusion. Low temperature process: film is formed by reacting silane, dopants and oxygen.
Suitable

for deposition over Al.

Intermediate

temperature process: decomposition of TEOS. At higher temperatures, deposited oxide film will be structurally similar to that grown by thermal oxidation.

Si3N4
Simple

thermal nitridation: slow growth rate, high growth temperature. Two methods for deposition:
Intermediate
High

temperature LPCVD

density stoichiometric film. Application: device passivation, mask for selective oxidation of Si.
Low

temperature plasma assisted CVD.

Lower

density non-stoichiometric film. Application: final passivation layer.

Metallization - PVD
Ti,

Al, Cu, TiN, TaN Methods:

Evaporation E-beam

evaporation Plasma spray deposition Sputtering.

Evaporation:
Source

heated in an evacuated chamber.

PVD - E-beam evaporation

Target

material is bombarded with an electron beam given off by a charged tungsten filament under high vacuum. The electron beam causes atoms from the target to transform into the gaseous phase. They precipitate into solid form, coating everything in the vacuum chamber (within line of sight) with a thin layer of the anode material.

PVD - Ion beam sputtering

Ion

current and energy adjusted. Other sputtering techniques:

Magnetron

sputtering Long-throw sputtering Reactive sputtering

Metallization - CVD
Conformal

coating. High throughput. LPCVD: conformal step coverage over wide range with lower electrical resistivity. Application: refractory metal deposition.

CVD Tungsten
W:

as contact plug and as first-level metal. Source gas: tungsten hexafluoride (WF6)
Can

be reduced by Si, H2 or SiH4

WF6

+ 3H2 W + 6HF ---- rapid process, conformal coverage 2WF6 + 3Si 2W + 3SiF4
2WF6

+ 3SiH4 2W + 3SiF4 + 6H2 ---- high deposition rate, high density

CVD SiH4 reduction followed by H2 reduction

CVD TiN
Diffusion

barrier. Can be deposited by sputtering and CVD. CVD provides better step coverage Source : TiCl4
6TiCl4 2TiCl4

+ 8NH3 6TiN + 24HCl + N2 + N2 + 4H2 2TiN + 8HCl 2NH3 + H2 2TiN + 8HCl

2TiCl4 +

TiN-W usage

Aluminum Metallization
Aluminum

late 90s
Has

was most popular choice till

low resistivity (2.7ohm-cm) Good adhesion to SiO2 Simple deposition (PVD usually) Dry or Wet etch possible

Aluminum Metallization
Can

be deposited by PVD or CVD. Problems associated: Junction Spiking, Electro-migration, Low melting point. Spiking due to eutectic characteristics Spikes can short junctions or cause excess leakage

Electro-migration
Transport

of material caused by the gradual movement of the ions in a conductor due to the momentum transfer between conducting electrons and diffusing metal atoms leads to the eventual loss of one or more connections and intermittent failure

Copper
Advantages
Lower

with Copper (Cu)

resistivity than Al (1.7) which leads to reduction in delays Higher melting point (~1080C) than Al Higher electro migration resistance than Aluminum
Disadvantages
Highly

/ Challenges

reactive or corrosive Difficult to etch Deposition challenges Poor adhesion to dielectrics High diffusivity in Si

Solutions to problems with Cu.

Fast diffusion of Cu into Si and SiO2 Poor oxidation/corrosion resistance Poor adhesion to SiO2

Diffusion Barrier / Adhesion Promoter

Difficulty of applying conventional etching technique

Use CMP Damascene process

Damascene Process
Pattern

dielectric Deposit Cu in the trenches CMP to remove excess Cu.

Dual Damascene
In

this process two layers of inter-metal dielectric are deposited sequentially and after patterning and etching through two layers, Cu is deposited and this is followed by CMP

CMP
Global

planarization. Surface moved against pad containing slurry. Slurry: thick suspension of solids in liquid
Particles
Loosened

in slurry mechanically abrade the wafer surface and remove materials

away. material are either dissolved or swept