Patents by Inventor Fuhong Zhang

Fuhong Zhang has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Sputter deposition and etching of metallization seed layer for overhang and sidewall improvement
    Patent number: 7294574
    Abstract: An integrated sputtering method and reactor for copper or aluminum seed layers in which a plasma sputter reactor initially deposits a thin conformal layer onto a substrate including a high-aspect ratio hole subject to the formation of overhangs. After the seed deposition, the same sputter reactor is used to sputter etch the substrate with energetic light ions, especially helium, having an energy sufficiently low that it selectively etches the metallization to the heavier underlying barrier layer, for example, copper over tantalum or aluminum over titanium. An RF inductive coil generates the plasma during the sputtering etching while the target power is turned off. A final copper flash step deposits copper over the bare barrier field region before copper is electrochemically plated to fill the hole. The invention also includes a simultaneous sputter deposition and sputter etch, and an energetic ion processing of the copper seed sidewall.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 9, 2004
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2007
    Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Peijun Ding, Fuhong Zhang, Hsien-Lung Yang, Michael A. Miller, Jianming Fu, Jick M. Yu, Zheng Xu, Fusen Chen
  • Sputter deposition and etching of metallization seed layer for overhang and sidewall improvement
    Publication number: 20060030151
    Abstract: An integrated sputtering method and reactor for copper or aluminum seed layers in which a plasma sputter reactor initially deposits a thin conformal layer onto a substrate including a high-aspect ratio hole subject to the formation of overhangs. After the seed deposition, the same sputter reactor is used to sputter etch the substrate with energetic light ions, especially helium, having an energy sufficiently low that it selectively etches the metallization to the heavier underlying barrier layer, for example, copper over tantalum or aluminum over titanium. An RF inductive coil generates the plasma during the sputtering etching while the target power is turned off. A final copper flash step deposits copper over the bare barrier field region before copper is electrochemically plated to fill the hole. The invention also includes a simultaneous sputter deposition and sputter etch, and an energetic ion processing of the copper seed sidewall.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 9, 2004
    Publication date: February 9, 2006
    Inventors: Peijun Ding, Fuhong Zhang, Hsien-Lung Yang, Michael Miller, Jianming Fu, Jick Yu, Zheng Xu, Fusen Chen