Multiple frequency pulsing of multiple coil source to control plasma ion density radial distribution
A method is provided for processing a workpiece supported on a support surface in a chamber of a plasma reactor. A process gas is introduced into the chamber and a plasma is generated with pulse-modulated RF power. The method comprises successively repeating the following cycle: (a) concentrating the plasma in the chamber in a center-high plasma ion distribution for a first on-time duration; (b) permitting plasma to drift during a first off-time duration away from the center-high plasma ion distribution; (c) concentrating the plasma in the chamber in an edge-high plasma ion distribution for a second on-time duration; and (d) permitting plasma to drift during a second off-time duration away from the edge-high plasma ion distribution. The method further comprises adjusting a plasma process rate near a center of the workpiece by adjusting a duty cycle of the first on-time and first off-time. The method also comprises adjusting a plasma process rate near a periphery of the workpiece by adjusting a duty cycle of the second on-time and second off-time.
The disclosure concerns the processing of a workpiece or semiconductor wafer in a plasma reactor having plural overhead coils for applying RF plasma source power, and in particular a method for controlling and improving uniformity of the radial distribution of plasma ion density.
BACKGROUNDA plasma reactor that generates an inductively coupled plasma is capable of etching thin films on a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer at a relatively high etch rate. Such a reactor has an inductively coupled plasma source power applicator, typically a coil antenna, coupled to an RF power generator. As the wafer diameter has increased in recent years, the chamber size has increased accordingly, requiring larger coil antennas, which greater inductance and more concentrated power deposition profiles. Power deposition tends to peak in narrow annular regions underlying the coil antenna or underlying inner and outer coil antennas. Such concentrated profiles cause large peaks in the plasma ion density distribution that are difficult to compensate, leading to reduced process uniformity across the wafer. Some improvement in process uniformity can be achieve using two (or more) concentric coil antennas over the reactor ceiling, one antenna overlying the wafer periphery and the other being closer to the wafer center. Even though such a configuration can improve process uniformity, the concentrated peaks in the power deposition profiles of the inner and outer coil antennas lead to process non-uniformities that are difficult to reduce.
SUMMARYA method is provided for processing a workpiece supported on a support surface in a chamber of a plasma reactor. A process gas is introduced into the chamber and a plasma is generated with pulse-modulated RF power. The method comprises successively repeating the following cycle: (a) concentrating the plasma in the chamber in a center-high plasma ion distribution for a first on-time duration; (b) permitting plasma to drift during a first off-time duration away from the center-high plasma ion distribution; (c) concentrating the plasma in the chamber in an edge-high plasma ion distribution for a second on-time duration; and (d) permitting plasma to drift during a second off-time duration away from the edge-high plasma ion distribution. The method further comprises adjusting a plasma process rate near a center of the workpiece by adjusting a duty cycle of the first on-time and first off-time. The method also comprises adjusting a plasma process rate near a periphery of the workpiece by adjusting a duty cycle of the second on-time and second off-time.
In one embodiment, the adjustment of the plasma process rate near a center of the workpiece comprises reducing the plasma process rate near the center of the workpiece and the adjusting the first duty cycle comprises reducing the first duty cycle. In one embodiment, the adjustment of a plasma process rate near a periphery of the workpiece comprises reducing the plasma process rate near the periphery of the workpiece and the adjusting the second duty cycle comprises reducing the second duty cycle.
In one embodiment, the reduction in plasma process rate near the center of the workpiece and the reduction in plasma process rate near the periphery of the workpiece reduces non-uniformity in distribution of process rate across the workpiece.
So that the manner in which the above recited embodiments of the invention are attained and can be understood in detail, a more particular description of the invention, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to the embodiments thereof which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of this invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments.
To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the figures. The drawings in the figures are all schematic and not to scale.
DETAILED DESCRIPTIONIt is our discovery that pulse-modulating the RF power applied to the coil antennas 150, 155 can be performed or controlled in such a way as to solve the problem non-uniformity caused by the concentrated power deposition profile of the coil antennas 150, 155. In one embodiment, this is accomplished by causing the plasma to alternate between different ion density distributions, so that the plasma processing results reflect a time average of the different distributions. During each pulse cycle, RF power is turned off at the trailing edge of the pulse, which permits the plasma to drift away from a concentrated profile to a more diffuse profile. This movement in plasma distribution provides an time-averaged plasma distribution that has better uniformity.
In one embodiment,
In one mode, the inner coil RF power is pulse modulated by the gate 162 with a desired repetition rate and duty cycle in which the plasma ion distribution corresponds to
In another embodiment,
In one mode, the outer coil RF power is pulse modulated by the gate 167 with a desired repetition rate and duty cycle in which the plasma ion distribution corresponds to
In one mode, pulses of RF power are applied alternately to the inner and outer coils 150, 155.
The resulting change in etch rate distribution is depicted in the chronological sequence of
Etch results on the wafer at the end of the etch process are the time-average of all of the etch rate distributions (samples of which are depicted in
In an exemplary process, a polysilicon film overlying a thin gate oxide layer is to be etched to form polysilicon gates. A silicon etch gas, such a fluorine-containing species, is introduced into the chamber 100 of
For example, if the etch rate distribution is too concentrated at the center during the inner coil on-time (times T1-T2) and moreover is too concentrated at the edge during the outer coil on-time (times T3-T4), then this excessive concentration is compensated by reducing the duty cycles of both the pulses applied to the inner coil gate 162 (
As one example involving different duty cycles applied to the inner and outer coils 150, 155, if etch rate is higher over the center and weaker at the periphery, then the duty cycle of the pulse waveform of
In some applications, the duty cycles of the pulsing of the gates 162, 167 may be set to relatively high values. For example, both duty cycles may exceed 50%, in which case the “on” time periods of the two coils 150, 155 will be partially contemporaneous or overlapping. In other words, each coil will be turned off after the other coil has been turned on. In this case, RF coupling between the two coils can be minimized by offsetting the frequencies of the two RF generators 160, 165. As one possible example of this, the two RF generators may have respective frequencies of 2.75 MHz and 2.25 MHz.
The period or length of one cycle in the pulse waveforms of
A process in accordance with one embodiment is depicted in
While foregoing embodiments have been described with reference to RF generators 160, 165 with pulsed gates 162, 167 for pulse modulating the RF outputs of the generators 160, 165, the generator 160 and corresponding gate 162 may be combined in one unit as a commercially available pulse-modulated RF generator. Likewise, the generator 165 and corresponding gate 167 may be combined in another similar unit.
While the foregoing description of embodiments having at least two coils (e.g., the inner and outer coils 150, 155) have been described with reference to operational modes in which the RF power to both coils is pulse-modulated, in another embodiment both coils 150, 155 are driven with RF power but only one of the two coils is driven with pulse-modulated RF power. In such an embodiment, for example, RF power to the inner coil 150 would be pulse modulated in accordance with the sequence of
While the foregoing description of embodiments having at least two coils (e.g., the inner and outer coils 150, 155) have been described with reference to separate independent RF power generators for each coil (e.g., the RF power generators 160, 165), in another embodiment only a single RF generator is employed and has its RF output power apportioned among the different coils. For example, as indicated in dashed line in
While foregoing embodiments have been described with reference to an inductively coupled RF power applicator consisting of two coils, an inner coil 150 and an outer coil 155, in another embodiment there may be only a single coil (e.g., either the inner coil 150 or the outer coil 155 or a single coil at an intermediate location). Alternatively, more than one coil may be present, but only a single coil is driven by RF power, the remaining coil (or coils) being inactive. The single coil would be driven by a single RF power generator (e.g., the generator 160) with pulse modulation of the RF power being performed by a pulsed gate (e.g., the gate 162) pulsed by the controller 170 in accordance with a chosen pulsing sequence.
While embodiments having more than one coil have been described above with reference to two coils (i.e., the inner and outer coils 160, 165), such embodiments may have more than two coils, e.g., three or four or more coils. Generally at least some or all of such coils may be concentric as in the embodiment of
While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the invention, other and further embodiments of the invention may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof, and the scope thereof is determined by the claims that follow.
Claims
1. A method of processing a workpiece supported on a support surface in a chamber of a plasma reactor, comprising:
- supplying a process gas into said chamber, said chamber comprising a concentric inner and outer coil antennas over the chamber and facing the support surface and said chamber comprises a first and second pulse-modulated RF power sources of first and second RF frequencies for respective ones of said inner and outer coil antennas;
- applying pulse-modulated RF power to said inner and outer coil antennas by successively repeating the following cycle: (a) applying RF power from said first source to said inner coil antenna for a first on-time duration corresponding to a first duty cycle, and at the end of said first on-time duration refraining from applying RF power to said inner coil antenna; (b) applying RF power from said second source to said outer coil antenna for a second on-time duration corresponding to a second duty cycle, and at the end of said second on-time duration refraining from applying RF power to said outer coil antenna;
- adjusting a plasma process rate near a center of said workpiece by adjusting said first duty cycle; and
- adjusting a plasma process rate near a periphery of said workpiece by adjusting said second duty cycle.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein adjusting the plasma process rate near the center of said workpiece comprises reducing the plasma process rate near the center of the workpiece and said adjusting said first duty cycle comprises reducing said first duty cycle.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein adjusting the plasma process rate near the periphery of said workpiece comprises reducing the plasma process rate near the periphery of the workpiece and said adjusting said second duty cycle comprises reducing said second duty cycle.
4. The method of claim 3 wherein said reducing the plasma process rate near said center of said workpiece and said reducing of the plasma process rate near said periphery of said workpiece reduces non-uniformity in distribution of process rate across said workpiece.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein said first and second frequencies are offset from one another.
6. The method of claim 1 further comprising coupling RF bias power to said workpiece.
7. The method of claim 6 wherein said RF bias power has a frequency different from said first and second frequencies.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein said process gas comprises an etchant precursor and the plasma process rate an etch rate.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein said cycle has a period of about 0.01-100 milliseconds.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein the durations of said first and second on-time durations are one the order to 0.01-100 milliseconds.
11. A method of processing a workpiece supported on a support surface in a chamber of a plasma reactor, comprising:
- introducing a process gas into the chamber and generating a plasma in said chamber with pulse-modulated RF power;
- successively repeating the following cycle: (a) concentrating the plasma in said chamber in a center-high plasma ion distribution for a first on-time duration; (b) permitting plasma to drift during a first off-time duration away from said center-high plasma ion distribution; (c) concentrating the plasma in said chamber in an edge-high plasma ion distribution for a second on-time duration; (d) permitting plasma to drift during a second off-time duration away from said edge-high plasma ion distribution;
- adjusting a plasma process rate near a center of said workpiece by adjusting a duty cycle of said first on-time and first off-time; and
- adjusting a plasma process rate near a periphery of said workpiece by adjusting a duty cycle of said second on-time and second off-time.
12. The method of claim 11 wherein adjusting the plasma process rate near the center of said workpiece comprises reducing the plasma process rate near the center of the workpiece and said adjusting said first duty cycle comprises reducing said first duty cycle.
13. The method of claim 12 wherein adjusting the plasma process rate near the periphery of said workpiece comprises reducing the plasma process rate near the periphery of the workpiece and said adjusting said second duty cycle comprises reducing said second duty cycle.
14. The method of claim 13 wherein said reducing the plasma process rate near said center of said workpiece and said reducing of the plasma process rate near said periphery of said workpiece reduces non-uniformity in distribution of process rate across said workpiece.
15. The method of claim 11 wherein said first and second frequencies are offset from one another.
16. The method of claim 11 further comprising coupling RF bias power to said workpiece.
17. The method of claim 16 wherein said RF bias power has a frequency different from said first and second frequencies.
18. The method of claim 11 wherein said process gas comprises an etchant precursor and the plasma process rate an etch rate.
19. The method of claim 11 wherein said cycle has a period of about 0.01-100 milliseconds.
20. The method of claim 11 wherein the durations of said first and second on-time durations are one the order to 0.01-100 milliseconds.
21. The method of claim 1 or 11 further comprising holding one of said first and second duty cycles at 100%.
22. A method of processing a workpiece supported on a support surface in a chamber of a plasma reactor, comprising:
- supplying a process gas into said chamber, said chamber comprising concentric inner and outer coil antennas over the chamber and facing the support surface;
- continuously applying RF power to one of said inner and outer coil antennas;
- applying pulse-modulated RF power to the other one of said inner and outer coil antennas by successively repeating the following cycle: (a) applying RF power to said other coil antenna for an on-time duration corresponding to a duty cycle, (b) at the end of said on-time duration refraining from applying RF power to said other coil antenna; and
- adjusting radial distribution of a plasma process rate over said workpiece by adjusting said duty cycle.
23. A method of processing a workpiece supported on a support surface in a chamber of a plasma reactor, comprising:
- supplying a process gas into said chamber, said chamber comprising concentric inner and outer coil antennas over the chamber and facing the support surface, and said chamber configured to receive RF power provided from a common RF power source to said inner and outer coil antennas;
- apportioning RF power from said common RF power source to said inner and outer coil antennas;
- pulse-modulating the RF power applied to said inner and outer coil antennas by successively repeating the following cycle of (a) followed by (b): (a) applying RF power from said common source to said inner coil antenna for a first on-time duration corresponding to a first duty cycle, and at the end of said first on-time duration refraining from applying RF power to said inner coil antenna; (b) applying RF power from said common source to said outer coil antenna for a second on-time duration corresponding to a second duty cycle, and at the end of said second on-time duration refraining from applying RF power to said outer coil;
- adjusting a plasma process rate near a center of said workpiece by adjusting said first duty cycle; and
- adjusting a plasma process rate near a periphery of said workpiece by adjusting said second duty cycle.
24. A method of processing a workpiece supported on a support surface in a chamber of a plasma reactor, comprising:
- supplying a process gas into said chamber, said chamber comprising a coil antenna;
- applying pulse-modulated RF power to said coil antenna by successively repeating the following cycle: (a) applying RF power to said coil antenna for a first on-time duration corresponding to a duty cycle, (b) at the end of said on-time duration refraining from applying RF power to said coil antenna; and
- adjusting radial distribution of a plasma process rate by adjusting said duty cycle.
Type: Application
Filed: Nov 30, 2007
Publication Date: Jun 4, 2009
Inventors: Theodoros Panagopoulos , Alexander M. Paterson , Shahid Rauf
Application Number: 11/998,821
International Classification: C23F 1/00 (20060101);