Semiconductor device manufacturing: process – Chemical etching – Vapor phase etching
Reexamination Certificate
1998-10-08
2001-04-17
Bueker, Richard (Department: 1763)
Semiconductor device manufacturing: process
Chemical etching
Vapor phase etching
C156S345420
Reexamination Certificate
active
06218312
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
The invention is related to a plasma reactor for processing a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer with a process employing an etch selectivity-enhancing precursor material such as polymer precursor gases.
2. Background Art
High density RF plasma reactors for etching contact openings through silicon dioxide layers to underlying polysilicon conductor layers and/or to the silicon substrate of a semiconductor wafer are disclosed in the above-referenced application by Collins et al. Ideally, such a reactor carries out an etch process which quickly etches the overlying silicon dioxide layer wherever a contact opening is to be formed, but stops wherever and as soon as the underlying polysilicon or silicon material (or other non-oxygen-containing material such as silicon nitride) is exposed, so that the process has a high oxide-to-silicon etch selectivity. Such reactors typically include a vacuum chamber, a wafer support within the chamber, process gas flow inlets to the chamber, a plasma source coil adjacent the chamber connected to an RF power source usually furnishing plasma source power and another RF power source connected to the wafer support usually to furnish plasma bias power. For a silicon oxide etch process, a process gas including an etchant such as a fluorine-containing substance is introduced into the chamber. The fluorine in the process gas freely dissociates under typical conditions so much that the etch process attacks not only the silicon oxide layer through which contact openings are to be etched, but also attacks the underlying polysilicon or silicon material as soon as it is exposed by the etch process. Thus, a typical etch process carried out by such a reactor is not the ideal process desired and has a lower oxide-to-silicon etch selectivity. As employed in this specification, the term “etch selectivity” refers to the ratio between the etch rates of two different materials, such as silicon dioxide and silicon (either crystalline silicon or polycrystalline silicon hereinafter referred to as “polysilicon”). A low etch selectivity can cause punch through. In etching shallow contact openings to intermediate polysilicon layers while simultaneously etching deep contact openings to the underlying silicon substrate, the etch process first reaches and will punch through the intermediate polysilicon layer before reaching the silicon substrate. A very high oxide-to-silicon etch selectivity is necessary to prevent the punchthrough, depending upon the ratio between the depths of the silicon substrate and the intermediate polysilicon layer through the silicon oxide. For example, if (a) the deep contact opening through the oxide to the substrate is 1.0 micron deep and is to be 50% overetched, (b) the intermediate polysilicon layer is 0.4 microns deep (below the top of the oxide layer) and (c) if not more than 0.01 microns of the intermediate polysilicon layer are to be removed (to avoid punch-through), then an oxide-to-silicon etch selectivity of at least 110:1 is required.
It is known that oxide-to-silicon etch selectivity is enhanced by a polymer film which forms more readily over silicon and polysilicon or other non-oxygen-containing layers than over silicon dioxide or other oxygen-containing layers. In order to form such a selectivity-enhancing polymer film, the fluorine-containing substance in the process gas is a fluorocarbon or a fluoro-hydrocarbon. Some of the fluorine in the process gas is consumed in chemically etching the silicon dioxide layer on the wafer. Another portion of the fluorine reacts with other species including carbon contained in the process gas to form a polymer on the surface of the wafer. This polymer forms more rapidly and strongly on any exposed silicon and polysilicon surfaces (or other non-oxygen-containing surfaces) than on silicon dioxide (or other oxygen-containing surfaces), thus protecting the silicon and polysilicon from the etchant and enhancing etch selectivity. Etch selectivity is further improved by improving the strength of the polymer formed on polysilicon surfaces. The polymer is strengthened by increasing the proportion of carbon in the polymer relative to fluorine, which can be accomplished by decreasing the amount of free fluorine in the plasma. For this purpose, a fluorine scavenger, such as a silicon piece, can be provided in the reactor chamber and heated to avoid being covered with polymer and additionally to permit silicon ions, radicals and/or neutral species to be removed therefrom and taken into the plasma. The silicon atoms removed from the scavenger combine with some of the free fluorine in the plasma, thereby reducing the amount of fluorine available to polymerize and increasing the proportion of carbon in the polymer formed on the wafer.
While the use of a fluorine scavenger such as a heated silicon piece inside the reactor chamber enhances etch selectivity by strengthening the polymer formed on the wafer, even the etch selectivity so enhanced can be relatively inadequate for a particular application such as the simultaneous etching of contact holes of very different depths. Therefore, it would be desireable to increase the polymer strength beyond that achieved by the improved scavenging technique described above.
Another problem is that the rate of removal of silicon from the scavenger piece required to achieve a substantial increase in polymer strength is so great that the silicon piece is rapidly consumed and the consequent need for its replacement exacts a price in loss of productivity and increased cost. Typically the scavenger piece is a piece of silicon in the reactor chamber ceiling or wall or a piece of silicon near the reactor chamber ceiling. The rate of removal of silicon therefrom is enhanced by applying an RF bias potential to the silicon piece while its temperature is carefully controlled to a prevent polymer deposition thereon and to control the rate of silicon removal therefrom. As disclosed in the above-referenced U.S. application Ser. No. 08/543,067, silicon is added into the plasma by a combination of applied RF bias and heating of the scavenger piece. The temperature control apparatus is integrated with the silicon piece so that replacement of the silicon piece (e.g., a silicon ceiling) is relatively expensive. In U.S. application Ser. No. 08/597,577 referenced above, an all-silicon reactor chamber is disclosed in which the walls and ceiling are silicon, and any fluorine scavenging is done by consuming the silicon ceiling or walls, requiring their replacement at periodic intervals with a concomitant increase in cost of operation and decrease in productivity. Thus, not only is it desireable to increase the polymer strength but it is also desireable to decrease the rate at which silicon must be removed from the scavenger to achieve a desired etch selectivity.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is a discovery of the invention that by raising the temperature of a polymer hardening precursor material such as-silicon inside the reactor chamber beyond that required to merely scavenger fluorine—i.e., into a higher temperature range, a different more durable polymer is formed over exposed silicon and polysilicon surfaces which is more resistant to etching than has been possible heretofore by merely scavenging fluorine. In this respect, the term “polymer hardening precursor” refers to a material in the chamber which, when its temperature is increased, increases the resistance to etching of the polymer formed on the wafer in accordance with the temperature increase. The polymer formed by holding the polymer-hardening precursor material at the higher temperature range is more durable than polymer formed otherwise, and protects the silicon and polysilicon surfaces so much better that oxide-to-silicon etch selectivity is substantially enhanced over that attained heretofore. Material from the heated polymer-hardening precursor (e.g., silicon) piece participates favorably in the polymerization process by changing the process gas content ratios of carbon-to-fluorine, hyd
Buchberger Douglas
Collins Kenneth S.
Groechel David W.
Keswick Peter
Marks Jeffrey
Applied Materials Inc.
Bueker Richard
Fieler Erin
Michaelson and Wallace
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