Patents by Inventor Harunori Ushikawa

Harunori Ushikawa 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).

  • Patent number: 8815737
    Abstract: The method for the formation of a silicide film herein provided comprises the steps of forming an Ni film on the surface of a substrate mainly composed of Si and then heat-treating the resulting Ni film to thus form an NiSi film as an upper layer of the substrate, wherein, prior to the heat-treatment for the formation of the NiSi film, the Ni film is subjected to a preannealing treatment using H2 gas at a temperature which is less than the heat-treatment temperature and which never causes the formation of any NiSi film in order to remove any impurity present in the Ni film, and the resulting Ni film is then subjected to a silicide-annealing treatment to thus form the NiSi film.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 26, 2014
    Assignee: Ulvac, Inc.
    Inventors: Yasushi Higuchi, Toshimitsu Uehigashi, Kazuhiro Sonoda, Harunori Ushikawa, Naoki Hanada
  • Patent number: 8809193
    Abstract: A Co film is formed by supplying cobalt alkylamidinate, and a combined gas containing H2 gas with at least one member selected from the group consisting of NH3, N2H4, NH(CH3)2, N2H3CH, and N2 as a reducing gas, or at least one gas selected from the group consisting of NH3, N2H4, NH(CH3)2, N2H3CH, and N2 as a reducing gas, on the surface of a base material, which consists of an SiO2 film or a barrier film serving as a primary layer. A Cu interconnection film is formed on the surface of the Co film.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 19, 2014
    Assignee: Ulvac, Inc.
    Inventors: Shoichiro Kumamoto, Satoru Toyoda, Harunori Ushikawa
  • Patent number: 8796142
    Abstract: A tantalum nitride film rich in tantalum atoms is formed by simultaneously introducing a raw gas consisting of a coordination compound of elemental tantalum (Ta) having a coordinated ligand of formula: N?(R, R?) (wherein, R and R? each represents an alkyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms) and NH3 gas into a film-forming chamber; reacting the raw gas with the NH3 gas; forming a reduced compound having Ta—NH3 on a substrate; and introducing a hydrogen atom-containing gas into the chamber to form a tantalum nitride film rich in tantalum atoms. The resulting tantalum nitride film has a low resistance, low contents of C and N atoms, and a high compositional ratio: Ta/N, show sufficiently high adherence to Cu film and can thus be useful as a barrier film. Moreover, tantalum particles are implanted in the resulting film according to the sputtering technique to further enrich the film with tantalum.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2006
    Date of Patent: August 5, 2014
    Assignee: Ulvac, Inc.
    Inventors: Narishi Gonohe, Satoru Toyoda, Harunori Ushikawa, Tomoyasu Kondo, Kyuzo Nakamura
  • Patent number: 8669191
    Abstract: A method for the formation of an Ni film is herein disclosed, which comprises the steps of maintaining the temperature of an Si substrate at a desired level in a vacuum chamber; introducing, into the vacuum chamber, a nickel alkylamidinate (in this organometal compound, the alkyl group is a member selected from the group consisting of a methyl group, an ethyl group, a butyl group and a propyl group), H2 gas and NH3 gas; and then forming an Ni film according to the CVD technique, wherein the film-forming temperature is set at a level between higher than 280° C. and not higher than 350° C.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 11, 2014
    Assignee: Ulvac, Inc.
    Inventors: Toshimitsu Uehigashi, Yasushi Higuchi, Michio Ishikawa, Harunori Ushikawa, Naoki Hanada
  • Patent number: 8476161
    Abstract: Provided is a Cu electrical interconnection film forming method, wherein an adhesive layer (base film) having improved adhesiveness with a Cu electrical interconnection film is used, in a semiconductor device manufacturing process. After forming a barrier film on a substrate whereupon a hole or the like is formed, a PVD-Co film or a CVD-Co film or an ALD-Co film is formed on the barrier film. Then, after filling up or burying the hole or the like, which has the Co film formed on the surface, with a CVD-Cu film or a PVD-Cu film, heat treatment is performed at a temperature of 350° C. or below, and the Cu electrical interconnection film is formed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 2009
    Date of Patent: July 2, 2013
    Assignee: Ulvac, Inc.
    Inventors: Shoichiro Kumamoto, Masamichi Harada, Harunori Ushikawa
  • Patent number: 8377207
    Abstract: In a purge gas assembly provided: in an outer circumference portion of a substrate stage, with a shoulder portion offset downward below a substrate mounting surface on an upper end of the substrate stage; a purge ring enclosing a stepped circumferential surface between the substrate mounting surface and the shoulder portion; and an annular gas ejection passage for ejecting the purge gas, the gas ejecting passage being defined between the stepped circumferential surface and an inner circumferential surface of the purge ring, an arrangement is made such that the purge gas can be ejected uniformly from the gas ejection passage over the entire circumference thereof and that the deposition of a film on an upper surface of the purge ring can also be restricted, and further that the construction is simplified. The purge ring has formed therein an annular groove which recesses from a lower surface thereof upward.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2008
    Date of Patent: February 19, 2013
    Assignee: ULVAC, Inc.
    Inventors: Tsuyoshi Kagami, Osamu Irino, Nobuyuki Kato, Harunori Ushikawa
  • Publication number: 20130023116
    Abstract: A Co film is formed by supplying cobalt alkylamidinate, and a combined gas containing H2 gas with at least one member selected from the group consisting of NH3, N2H4, NH (CH3)2, N2H3CH, and N2 as a reducing gas, or at least one gas selected from the group consisting of NH3, N2H4, NH (CH3)2, N2H3CH, and N2 as a reducing gas, on the surface of a base material, which consists of an SiO2 film or a barrier film serving as a primary layer. A Cu interconnection film is formed on the surface of the Co film.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 2, 2010
    Publication date: January 24, 2013
    Applicant: ULVAC, INC.
    Inventors: Shoichiro Kumamoto, Satoru Toyoda, Harunori Ushikawa
  • Publication number: 20120264310
    Abstract: A method for the formation of an Ni film is herein disclosed, which comprises the steps of maintaining the temperature of an Si substrate at a desired level in a vacuum chamber; introducing, into the vacuum chamber, a nickel alkylamidinate (in this organometal compound, the alkyl group is a member selected from the group consisting of a methyl group, an ethyl group, a butyl group and a propyl group), H2 gas and NH3 gas; and then forming an Ni film according to the CVD technique, wherein the film-forming temperature is set at a level between higher than 280° C. and not higher than 350° C.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 12, 2012
    Publication date: October 18, 2012
    Applicant: ULVAC, INC.
    Inventors: Toshimitsu Uehigashi, Yasushi Higuchi, Michio Ishikawa, Harunori Ushikawa, Naoki Hanada
  • Publication number: 20120244701
    Abstract: The method for the formation of a silicide film herein provided comprises the steps of forming an Ni film on the surface of a substrate mainly composed of Si and then heat-treating the resulting Ni film to thus form an NiSi film as an upper layer of the substrate, wherein, prior to the heat-treatment for the formation of the NiSi film, the Ni film is subjected to a preannealing treatment using H2 gas at a temperature which is less than the heat-treatment temperature and which never causes the formation of any NiSi film in order to remove any impurity present in the Ni film, and the resulting Ni film is then subjected to a silicide-annealing treatment to thus form the NiSi film.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 19, 2012
    Publication date: September 27, 2012
    Applicant: ULVAC, INC.
    Inventors: Yasushi Higuchi, Toshimitsu Uehigashi, Kazuhiro Sonoda, Harunori Ushikawa, Naoki Hanada
  • Patent number: 8158198
    Abstract: A tantalum nitride film-forming method comprises the steps of introducing a raw gas consisting of a coordination compound constituted by an elemental tantalum (Ta) having a coordinated ligand represented by the general formula: N?(R,R?) (in the formula, R and R? may be the same or different and each represents an alkyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms), and a halogen gas into a vacuum chamber; and reacting these components with one another on a substrate to thus form a surface adsorption film comprising a mono-atomic or multi (several)-atomic layer and composed of a compound represented by the following general formula: TaNx(Hal)y(R, R?)z (in the formula, Hal represents a halogen atom), then introducing radicals generated from an H atom-containing compound to thus remove Ta—N bonds present in the resulting compound through breakage thereof and remove, at the same time, the remaining R(R?) groups bonded to the N atoms present in the compound through the cleavage thereof and to thus form a tantalum nitride film
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2006
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2012
    Assignee: ULVAC, Inc.
    Inventors: Narishi Gonohe, Satoru Toyoda, Harunori Ushikawa, Tomoyasu Kondo, Kyuzo Nakamura
  • Patent number: 8158197
    Abstract: A tantalum nitride film-forming method comprises the steps, according to the CVD technique, of introducing a raw gas consisting of a coordination compound constituted by an elemental tantalum (Ta) having a coordinated ligand represented by the general formula: N?(R, R?) (in the formula, R and R? may be the same or different and each represents an alkyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms) and a halogen gas into a film-forming chamber to thus form a film of a halogenated compound represented by the following general formula: TaNx(Hal)y(R, R?)z (in the formula, Hal represents a halogen atom), reacting the halogenated compound film with a hydrogen atom-containing gas by the introduction thereof into the chamber to thus form a tantalum nitride film rich in tantalum atoms. The resulting tantalum nitride film has a low resistance, low contents of C and N, and a high compositional ratio: Ta/N, can ensure high adherence to the electrical connection-forming film and can thus be useful as a barrier film.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2006
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2012
    Assignee: ULVAC, Inc.
    Inventors: Narishi Gonohe, Satoru Toyoda, Harunori Ushikawa, Tomoyasu Kondo, Kyuzo Nakamura
  • Patent number: 8105468
    Abstract: A tantalum nitride film-forming method comprises the steps of introducing, into a vacuum chamber, a raw gas consisting of a coordination compound constituted by elemental Ta having a coordinated ligand represented by the general formula: N?(R,R?) (in the formula, R and R? may be the same or different and each represents an alkyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms) to thus adsorb the gas on a substrate; then introducing an NH3 gas and then activated H radicals derived from a reactant gas into a vacuum chamber to thus remove the R(R?) groups bonded to the nitrogen atom present in the reaction product through cleavage, and to thus form a tantalum nitride film rich in tantalum atoms. The resulting tantalum nitride film has a low resistance, low contents of C and N atoms, and a high compositional ratio: Ta/N, can ensure sufficiently high adherence to the distributing wire-forming film and can thus be useful as a barrier film.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2006
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2012
    Assignee: Ulvac, Inc.
    Inventors: Narishi Gonohe, Satoru Toyoda, Harunori Ushikawa, Tomoyasu Kondo, Kyuzo Nakamura
  • Publication number: 20110318505
    Abstract: A method for forming a tantalum nitride film, which comprises supplying a gaseous nitrogen atom-containing compound, as a reactant gas and supplying gaseous t-amylimido-tris-(dimethylamide)tantalum, as a gaseous raw material, to the surface of the substrate S to thus form a tantalum nitride film on the surface of the substrate S; and a film-forming apparatus, which comprises a reactant gas supply line L4; a container 13 for liquefy a raw material; an evaporator 11 for gasify the liquefied raw material; a liquid mass flow controller 12 for controlling the amount of the liquid raw material to be supplied; and a gaseous raw material supply line L1. These method and apparatus would permit the stable supply of the gaseous raw material at all times and the improvement of the throughput of the substrate to be processed and as a result, the method and the apparatus permit the improvement of the productivity of the tantalum nitride film.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 7, 2009
    Publication date: December 29, 2011
    Inventors: Akiko Yamamoto, Harunori Ushikawa, Nobuyuki Kato, Takakazu Yamada
  • Publication number: 20110104890
    Abstract: Provided is a Cu electrical interconnection film forming method, wherein an adhesive layer (base film) having improved adhesiveness with a Cu electrical interconnection film is used, in a semiconductor device manufacturing process. After forming a barrier film on a substrate whereupon a hole or the like is formed, a PVD-Co film or a CVD-Co film or an ALD-Co film is formed on the barrier film. Then, after filling up or burying the hole or the like, which has the Co film formed on the surface, with a CVD-Cu film or a PVD-Cu film, heat treatment is performed at a temperature of 350° C. or below, and the Cu electrical interconnection film is formed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 14, 2009
    Publication date: May 5, 2011
    Applicant: ULVAC, INC
    Inventors: Shoichiro Kumamoto, Masamichi Harada, Harunori Ushikawa
  • Publication number: 20100206716
    Abstract: A tantalum nitride film-forming method comprises the steps of introducing, into a vacuum chamber, a raw gas consisting of a coordination compound constituted by elemental Ta having a coordinated ligand represented by the general formula: N?(R,R?) (in the formula, R and R? may be the same or different and each represents an alkyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms) to thus adsorb the gas on a substrate; then introducing an NH3 gas and then activated H radicals derived from a reactant gas into a vacuum chamber to thus remove the R(R?) groups bonded to the nitrogen atom present in the reaction product through cleavage, and to thus form a tantalum nitride film rich in tantalum atoms. The resulting tantalum nitride film has a low resistance, low contents of C and N atoms, and a high compositional ratio: Ta/N, can ensure sufficiently high adherence to the distributing wire-forming film and can thus be useful as a barrier film.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 3, 2006
    Publication date: August 19, 2010
    Inventors: Narishi Gonohe, Satoru Toyoda, Harunori Ushikawa, Tomoyasu Kondo, Kyuzo Nakamura
  • Publication number: 20100139556
    Abstract: In a purge gas assembly provided: in an outer circumference portion of a substrate stage, with a shoulder portion offset downward below a substrate mounting surface on an upper end of the substrate stage; a purge ring enclosing a stepped circumferential surface between the substrate mounting surface and the shoulder portion; and an annular gas ejection passage for ejecting the purge gas, the gas ejecting passage being defined between the stepped circumferential surface and an inner circumferential surface of the purge ring, an arrangement is made such that the purge gas can be ejected uniformly from the gas ejection passage over the entire circumference thereof and that the deposition of a film on an upper surface of the purge ring can also be restricted, and further that the construction is simplified. The purge ring has formed therein an annular groove which recesses from a lower surface thereof upward.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 23, 2008
    Publication date: June 10, 2010
    Inventors: Tsuyoshi Kagami, Osamu Irino, Nobuyuki Kato, Harunori Ushikawa
  • Publication number: 20090246375
    Abstract: A tantalum nitride film-forming method comprises the steps of introducing a raw gas consisting of a coordination compound constituted by an elemental tantalum (Ta) having a coordinated ligand represented by the general formula: N?(R,R?) (in the formula, R and R? may be the same or different and each represents an alkyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms), and a halogen gas into a vacuum chamber; and reacting these components with one another on a substrate to thus form a surface adsorption film comprising a mono-atomic or multi (several)-atomic layer and composed of a compound represented by the following general formula: TaNx(Hal)y(R, R?)z (in the formula, Hal represents a halogen atom), then introducing radicals generated from an H atom-containing compound to thus remove Ta—N bonds present in the resulting compound through breakage thereof and remove, at the same time, the remaining R(R?) groups bonded to the N atoms present in the compound through the cleavage thereof and to thus form a tantalum nitride film
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 3, 2006
    Publication date: October 1, 2009
    Inventors: Narishi Gonohe, Satoru Toyoda, Harunori Ushikawa, Tomoyasu Kondo
  • Publication number: 20090159431
    Abstract: A tantalum nitride film-forming method comprises the steps, according to the CVD technique, of introducing a raw gas consisting of a coordination compound constituted by an elemental tantalum (Ta) having a coordinated ligand represented by the general formula: N?(R, R?) (in the formula, R and R? may be the same or different and each represents an alkyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms) and a halogen gas into a film-forming chamber to thus form a film of a halogenated compound represented by the following general formula: TaNx(Hal)y(R, R?)z (in the formula, Hal represents a halogen atom), reacting the halogenated compound film with a hydrogen atom-containing gas by the introduction thereof into the chamber to thus form a tantalum nitride film rich in tantalum atoms. The resulting tantalum nitride film has a low resistance, low contents of C and N, and a high compositional ratio: Ta/N, can ensure high adherence to the electrical connection-forming film and can thus be useful as a barrier film.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 3, 2006
    Publication date: June 25, 2009
    Inventors: Narishi Gonohe, Satoru Toyoda, Harunori Ushikawa, Tomoyasu Kondo, Kyuzo Nakamura
  • Publication number: 20090159430
    Abstract: A tantalum nitride film-forming method comprises the steps of introducing, into a vacuum chamber, a raw gas consisting of a coordination compound constituted by elemental Ta having a coordinated ligand represented by the general formula: N?(R,R?) (in the formula, R and R? may be the same or different and each represents an alkyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms) to thus adsorb the gas on a substrate; then introducing an NH3 gas and then activated H radicals derived from a reactant gas into a vacuum chamber to thus remove the R(R?) groups bonded to the nitrogen atom present in the reaction product through cleavage, and to thus form a tantalum nitride film rich in tantalum atoms. The resulting tantalum nitride film has a low resistance, low contents of C and N atoms, and a high compositional ratio: Ta/N, can ensure sufficiently high adherence to the distributing wire-forming film and can thus be useful as a barrier film.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 3, 2006
    Publication date: June 25, 2009
    Inventors: Narishi Gonohe, Satoru Toyoda, Harunori Ushikawa, Tomoyasu Kondo, Kyuzo Nakamura
  • Publication number: 20090162565
    Abstract: A tantalum nitride film is formed by introducing a raw gas consisting of a coordination compound constituted by an elemental tantalum (Ta) having a coordinated ligand represented by the general formula: N?(R, R?) (in the formula, R and R? may be the same or different and each represents an alkyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms) and an oxygen atom-containing gas into a film-forming chamber to make them react with one another on a substrate and to thus form a compound represented by the formula: TaOxNy(R,R?)z according to the CVD technique; and then introducing an H atom-containing gas into the chamber to thus form a tantalum nitride film rich in tantalum atoms. The resulting tantalum nitride film has a low resistance, low contents of C and N atoms, and a high compositional ratio: Ta/N, can ensure sufficiently high adherence to the electrical connection-forming film and can thus be useful as a barrier film.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 3, 2006
    Publication date: June 25, 2009
    Inventors: Narishi Gonohe, Satoru Toyoda, Harunori Ushikawa, Tomoyasu Kondo, Kyuzo Nakamura