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William G. Petro
Intel Corporation
2250 Mission College Blvd.
Santa Clara, CA 95052
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The effects of gas flow and electrode spacing on the step coverage
of silane-based nitride and oxynitride films formed by plasma-enhanced
chemical-vapor deposition have been studied. It was found that the
sidewall step coverage and sidewall film wet etch rate can be improved by
varying these process parameters.
INTRODUCTION
Silane-based nitride and oxynitride plasma CVD processes are
typically used as passivation films for integrated circuit devices due to
their effectiveness at sealing the active regions from moisture and other
contaminants. As device geometries shrink to sub-micron dimensions,
improved step coverage of the final passivation layers becomes necessary
to insure adequate device reliability and yield. This paper presents
results of studies of the effects of process parameters on sidewall step
coverage and sidewall wet etch rate.
EXPERIMENTAL
Nitride and oxide films were deposited in a single-wafer plasma-
enhanced CVD reactor. The films were deposited onto silicon wafer
substrates containing patterned aluminum lines one micron high with
spacings varying from 0.8 to 2.1 microns. After deposition the wafers
were cross-sectioned and the film thicknesses at the top and sides of the
aluminum lines were measured using a scanning electron microscope (SEM).
To characterize the integrity of the film on the sidewalls, the sample was
dipped in HF and again measured on the SEM.
The sidewall step coverage for the giant-gap (GG) nitride process
is shown in Fig. 1. For all spacings from 0.8 to 1.6 microns the step
coverage is greater for the wider electrode spacing. After etching in HF
the step coverage degrades significantly more for the standard nitride
than for the giant-gap process.
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CONCLUSIONS
% 76 -
S 70 -
T 05 -
F eo -
C 66 -
60 -
0
V ..-
E
R
46 - .A'
A 40 -
G
E 35 -
, , , , , , ( , ! l I I -
F i g u r e 1. S i d e w a l l s t e p c o v e r a g e ( % ) v s . l i n e s p a c i n g b e f o r e ( t o p ) a n d
a f t e r (bottom) HF e t c h f o r t h e g i a n t g a p and s t a n d a r d (narrow) gap n i t r i d e
processes.
4 24
Step Coverage As A Function of N2 Flow
30
0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4
Line Spacing (microns)
40;
35
25 =
'/
I
--
20 I
I 1 1 I I I
Figure 2. Sidewall step coverage ( % ) vs. line spacing before (top) and
after (bottom) BOE etch for the low and high N2 flow oxynitride processes.
425