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Vapor based combinatorial processing

Vapor based combinatorial processing description/claims

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Application Ser. No. 60/970,199 filed Sep. 5, 2007, and is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/013,729 filed on Jan. 14, 2008, both of which are incorporated by reference in their entirety for all purposes.

This invention relates to semiconductor processing. More particularly, this invention relates to a processing system and a method of site-isolated vapor based processing to facilitate combinatorial film deposition and integration on a substrate.

Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) is a vapor based deposition process commonly used in semiconductor manufacturing including but not limited to the formation of dielectric layers, conductive layers, semiconducting layers, liners, barriers, adhesion layers, seed layers, stress layers, and fill layers. CVD is typically a thermally driven process whereby the precursor flux(es) are pre-mixed and coincident to the substrate surface to be deposited upon. CVD requires control of the substrate temperature and the incoming precursor flux(es) to achieve desired film materials properties and thickness uniformity. Derivatives of CVD based processes include but are not limited to Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD), High-Density Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition (HDP-CVD), Sub-Atmospheric Chemical Vapor Deposition (SACVD), laser assisted/induced CVD, and ion assisted/induced CVD.

As device geometries shrink and associated film thickness decrease, there is an increasing need for improved control of the deposited layers. A variant of CVD that enables superior step coverage, materials property, and film thickness control is a sequential deposition technique known as Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD). ALD is a multi-step, self-limiting process that includes the use of at least two precursors or reagents. Generally, a first precursor (or reagent) is introduced into a processing chamber containing a substrate and adsorbs on the surface of the substrate. Excess first precursor is purged and/or pumped away. A second precursor (or reagent) is then introduced into the chamber and reacts with the initially adsorbed layer to form a deposited layer via a deposition reaction. The deposition reaction is self-limiting in that the reaction terminates once the initially adsorbed layer is consumed by the second precursor. Excess second precursor is purged and/or pumped away. The aforementioned steps constitute one deposition or ALD “cycle.” The process is repeated to form the next layer, with the number of cycles determining the total deposited film thickness. Different sets of precursors can also be chosen to form nano-composites comprised of differing materials compositions. Derivatives of ALD include but are not limited to Plasma Enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition (PEALD), radical assisted/enhanced ALD, laser assisted/induced ALD, and ion assisted/induced ALD.

Presently, conventional vapor-based processes such as CVD and ALD are designed to process uniformly across a full wafer. In addition, these CVD and ALD processes need to be integrated into process/device flows. Uniform processing results in fewer data per substrate, longer times to accumulate a wide variety of data and higher costs associated with obtaining such data.

As part of the discovery, optimization and qualification process for new ALD and CVD films, the invention enables one to test i) more than one material, ii) more than one processing condition, iii) more than one sequence of processing conditions, and iv) more than one process sequence integration flow on a single monolithic substrate without the need of consuming the equivalent number of monolithic substrates per material(s), processing condition(s), sequence(s) of processing conditions, sequence(s) of processes, and combinations thereof. This can greatly improve both the speed and reduce the costs associated with the discovery, implementation, optimization, and qualification of new CVD and ALD based material(s), process(es), and process integration sequence(s) required for manufacturing. The invention provides systems, components, and method for processing substrates in a combinatorial manner through the variation of constituent parts of a fluid volume.

The present invention will be readily understood by the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Like reference numerals designate like structural elements.

FIG. 1 is a detailed cross-sectional view of a system in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a simplified schematic view showing the flow of processing fluids in the system shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a bottom-up exploded perspective view of a showerhead assembly employed in the semiconductor processing system shown in FIG. 11 in accordance with a first embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a top-down exploded perspective view of a showerhead shown in FIG. 3, in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a top-down view of a manifold body of the showerhead shown in FIGS. 3 and 4;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a fluid supply system of a processing chamber shown in FIG. 1, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a graphical representation of the operation of the fluid supply system shown in FIG. 6 and the resulting distribution of processing fluids exiting the showerhead shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5;

FIG. 5A is a top down plan view showing movement of processing fluids over a surface of a substrate disposed in a processing region, shown in FIG. 1, in accordance with the present invention;

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