US Patent 11,987,882, May 21, 2024
A vapor deposition process is provided for the growth of as-deposited hydrogen-free silicon carbi... more A vapor deposition process is provided for the growth of as-deposited hydrogen-free silicon carbide (SiC) and SiC films including oxygen (SiC:O) thin films. For producing the SiC thin films, the process includes providing a silahydrocarbon precursor, such as TSCH (1,3,5-trisilacyclohexane), in the vapor phase, with or without a diluent gas, to a reaction zone containing a heated substrate, such that adsorption and decomposition of the precursor occurs to form stoichiometric, hydrogen-free, silicon carbide (SiC) in a 1:1 atom ratio between silicon and carbon on the substrate surface without exposure to any other reactive chemical species or co-reactants. For the SiC:O films, an oxygen source is added to the reaction zone to dope the SiC films with oxygen. In the silahydrocarbon precursors, every carbon atom is bonded to two silicon atoms, with each silicon atom being additionally bonded to two or more hydrogen atoms.
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Papers by Barry Arkles
This presentation explores four new such processes and protocols that match these requirements, namely:
• P-CVD SiNx: This process combines precursor thermal adsorption with the reaction with remote plasma ammonia. A demonstration is presented in which thermal adsorption of tri(isopropyl)cyclotrisilazane (TICZ) ensures a substrate driven nucleation and growth process that leads ultimately to conformal SiNx in extremely high aspect ratio structures. Concurrently, the application of a remote NH3 plasma eliminates any undesirable plasma-induced effects on the substrate and growing film.
• Single Pulse CVD/ALD: These are methods for pulsed deposition of thin films that offer significant reduction in the time to generate thin films by eliminating a number of the steps required in growth cycles. In the case of ALD, for instance, it reduces the number of steps required to grow every individual thin film layer from four to one, thus maximizing process efficiency and wafer throughput, and leading to competitive manufacturing cost of ownership and return on investment. The deposition of high quality cobalt films from cobalt tricarbonyl nitrosyl will be discussed in this context.
• Vapor Phase Transient Species Deposition. The discrete generation of transient species under conditions distinct from the substrate and the parent precursor will be discussed. This process enables the deposition of films in lower thermal or energetic substrate environments. It also enables the deposition of films at lower temperatures and ensures greater conformality of the deposited films, allowing film deposition on thermally or chemically fragile substrates.
• Integrated Synthesis and Deposition (ISD): A manufacturing paradigm comprising a method and system for real-time, closed-loop synthesis, supply, and consumption of precursors in IC manufacturing processes. In its simplest form, the system consists of a precursor synthesis chamber being physically interfaced with a thin film processing chamber, with precursor being synthesized on demand and supplied in a controlled fashion into the thin film processing chamber where it is consumed in the manufacturing process. This allows practical methods to employ highly reactive chemistry that otherwise could lead to explosive or highly toxic releases.