IMPROVED STEP COVERAGE OF SILANE-BASED PECVD NITRIDE AND

OXYNITRIDE PASSIVATION FILMS

Ben Pang and David Cheung

Applied Materials, Inc.
3050 Bowers Avenue
Santa Clara, CA 95054

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.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

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.

The sidewall step coverage for the oxynitride process is shown in

Fig. 2. For all spacings from 0.8 to 2.1 microns it can be seen that the
step coverage is greater for the low flow (500 sccm "2) vs. the high flow
(4000 sccm N2) process. In this case the relative decrease in step
coverage after etching is comparable for the two processes.

June 11-12,1991 VMlC Conference

TH-03!59-0/91/0000-0423 $01.OO C 1991 IEEE

423
 CONCLUSIONS

The improvement o f n i t r i d e s t e p c o v e r a g e was f o u n d t o b e r e l a t e d t o

e l e c t r o d e spacing, while t o t a l gas flowrate and r e a c t a n t r a t i o s d i d not
have a l a r g e e f f e c t . F o r o x y n i t r i d e f i l m s t h e f l o w r a t e o f N2 was f o u n d
t o h a v e a l a r g e e f f e c t on s t e p c o v e r a g e . Increased residence t i m e is
p r o p o s e d a s a p o s s i b l e e x p l a n a t i o n f o r t h e o b s e r v e d improved s t e p c o v e r a g e
for these films.

GG NITRIDE VS STANDARD NITRIDE

DEPOSITION ON 1 MICRON METAL STEPS

% 76 -
S 70 -
T 05 -
F eo -
C 66 -
60 -
0
V ..-
E
R
46 - .A'

A 40 -
G
E 35 -
, , , , , , ( , ! l I I -

GG NITRIDE VS STANDARD NITRIDE

AFTER 20 SEC ETCH IN 25% HF SOLUTION

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

% Sidewall Step Coverage

30
0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4
Line Spacing (microns)

--+- 500 N2 -- 4000 N2

1 micron step height

Step Coverage As A Function of N2 Flow

After 6:l BOE Etch

% Sidewall Step Coverage

50 I
45 1-

40;
35

25 =
'/
I
--
20 I
I 1 1 I I I

0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4

Line Spacing (microns)

- 500 N2 -O- 4000 N2

1 micron step height

Figure 2. Sidewall step coverage ( % ) vs. line spacing before (top) and
after (bottom) BOE etch for the low and high N2 flow oxynitride processes.

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