Abstract: Methods of forming air gaps in hole and trench structures are disclosed. The methods may be used to form buried voids, i.e., voids for which the top is below the top of the adjacent features. The methods include inhibition of the hole or trench structures and selective deposition at the top of the structure forming an air gap within the structures. In some embodiments, the methods are to reduce intra-level capacitance in semiconductor devices.

Abstract: Various embodiments herein relate to methods and apparatus for depositing silicon oxide using thermal ALD or thermal CVD. In one aspect of the disclosed embodiments, a method for depositing silicon oxide is provided, the method including: (a) receiving the substrate in a reaction chamber; (b) introducing a first flow of a first reactant into the reaction chamber and exposing the substrate to the first reactant, where the first reactant includes a silicon-containing reactant; (c) introducing a second flow of a second reactant into the reaction chamber to cause a reaction between the first reactant and the second reactant, (i) where the second reactant includes hydrogen (H2) and an oxygen-containing reactant, (ii) where the reaction deposits silicon oxide on the substrate, and (iii) where the reaction is initiated when a pressure in the reaction chamber is greater than 10 Torr and equal to or less than about 40 Torr.

Abstract: Methods of filling a gap with a dielectric material including using an inhibitor plasma during deposition. The inhibitor plasma increases a nucleation barrier of the deposited film. When the inhibitor plasma interacts with material in the feature, the material at the bottom of the feature receives less plasma treatment than material located closer to a top portion of the feature or in field. Deposition at the top of the feature is then selectively inhibited and deposition in lower portions of the feature proceeds with less inhibition or without being inhibited. As a result, bottom-up fill is enhanced, which can create a sloped profile that mitigates the seam effect and prevents void formation. In some embodiments, an underlying material at the top of the feature is protected using an integrated liner. In some embodiments, a hydrogen chemistry is used during gap fill to reduce seam formation.

Abstract: A NAND structure and method of fabricating the structure are described. A multi-layer ONON stack is deposited on a Si substrate and a field oxide grown thereon. A portion of the field oxide is removed, and high-aspect-ratio channels are etched in the stack. The channels are filled with a Si oxide using a thermal ALD process. The thermal ALD process includes multiple growth cycles followed by a passivation cycle. Each growth cycle includes treating the surface oxide surface using an inhibitor followed by multiple cycles to deposit the oxide on the treated surface using a precursor and source of the oxide. The passivation after the growth cycle removes the residual inhibitor. The Si oxide is recess etched using a wet chemical etch of DHF and then capped using a poly-Si cap.

Abstract: Methods for filling gaps with dielectric material involve deposition using an atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique to fill a gap followed by deposition of a cap layer on the filled gap by a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique. The ALD deposition may be a plasma-enhanced ALD (PEALD) or thermal ALD (tALD) deposition. The CVD deposition may be plasma-enhanced CVD (PECVD) or thermal CVD (tCVD) deposition. In some embodiments, the CVD deposition is performed in the same chamber as the ALD deposition without intervening process operations. This in-situ deposition of the cap layer results in a high throughput process with high uniformity. After the process, the wafer is ready for chemical-mechanical planarization (CMP) in some embodiments.

Abstract: Silicon oxide, silicon nitride, and silicon oxynitride films may be deposited by thermal atomic layer deposition (thermal ALD) in a single wafer plasma reactor. The single wafer plasma reactor can perform thermal ALD and plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD). Highly conformal films may be deposited at a high deposition rate without damaging or with minimal damage to the substrate using thermal ALD. The substrate may be heated at an elevated temperature during oxidation and/or nitridation. In some implementations, the elevated temperature is between about 500 C and about 750 C. In some implementations, hydrogen and oxygen may be flowed as reactant gases during oxidation, where the hydrogen and oxygen may react in an exothermic reaction to drive formation of oxide.

Abstract: Methods of providing control of film properties during atomic layer deposition using intermittent plasma treatment in-situ are provided herein. Methods include modulating gas flow rate ratios used to generate plasma during intermittent plasma treatment, toggling plasma power, and modulating chamber pressure.

Abstract: Various embodiments include methods to produce low dielectric-constant (low-k) films. In one embodiment, alternating ALD cycles and dopant materials are used to generate a new family of silicon low-k materials. Specifically, these materials were developed to fill high-aspect-ratio structures with re-entrant features. However, such films are also useful in blanket applications where conformal nanolaminates are applicable. Various embodiments also disclose SiOF as well as SiOCF, SiONF, GeOCF, and GeOF. Analogous films may include halide derivatives with iodine and bromine (e.g., replace “F” with “I” or “Br”). Other methods, chemistries, and techniques are disclosed.

Abstract: An apparatus is provided comprising a process chamber, a precursor gas source, a reactant gas source, an inhibitor gas source, a passivation gas source, a gas, a switching manifold, and a controller.