Thin-film forming method

Details Thin-film forming method Thin-film forming method

2001-09-26

2002-10-22

Niebling, John F. (Department: 2812)

Semiconductor device manufacturing: process

Coating of substrate containing semiconductor region or of...

C438S623000, C438S624000, C438S150000, C257S759000, C257S760000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06468921

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is related to a thin-film forming method which can form a thin film with an improved evenness.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
With the progresses of IC manufacturing methods, the aspect ratio of a multilayer semiconductor device increase as the integrated density increases. As a result, a thin-film forming method with an improved gap-filling ability is getting more and more attention.
FIG. 1
schematically shows a conventional high density plasma chemical vapor deposition (HDPCVD) method which is wildly used by semiconductor manufacturers nowadays. The HDPCVD utilizes instantaneously depositing and etching steps to improve the gap-filling ability of a thin film. For example, as shown in FIG.
1
(
a
), when a SiO
2
thin film
12
is deposited from silane (SiH
4
) and oxygen (O
2
) on a topographically rugged substrate
10
which has a device structure
11
thereon, a bias radiofrequency (bias RF) is instantaneously used to accelerate ions (such as argon, helium or oxygen ions) in the plasma to ion bomb the SiO
2
thin film
12
. Therefore, the burs of the thin film
12
formed around the voids and gaps are destroyed by the ion bombing and the crashed dregs are filled into the voids and gaps, as shown in FIG.
1
(
b
).
As described above, the HDPCVD can effectively improved the gap-filling ability of a thin film on a topographically rugged substrate, but many triangle peaks will be left, as shown in FIG.
1
(
c
). The triangle peaks cannot be easily ground to be flat by the chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) because the grinding solution
13
is trapped in the concave grooves between the triangle peaks (the grinding solution
13
can not distribute uniformly). Therefore, the grinding time of CMP needs to be extended, otherwise the grinding effect of CMP will be poor.
It is therefore attempted by the present applicant to deal with the above situation encountered with the prior art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a novel thin-film forming method applied in an IC manufacturing process for forming a thin film with an improved evenness. The method includes the step of (a) forming a thin film on a topographically rugged substrate, (b) ion bombing the thin film to improve a gap-filling ability of the thin film, (c) after the thin-film forming step is finished, ion bombing the thin film continuously for a specific time to improve the evenness of the thin film.
According to the present invention, the thin film is formed by a chemical vapor deposition method, preferably the high density plasma chemical vapor deposition method.
The thin film of the present invention is a silicide layer, preferably a SiO
2
layer. The thin film is ion bombed by using a bias radio-frequency to accelerate ions in a plasma, and the ions are argon, helium or oxygen ions.
According to the present invention, the depositing step and the ion bombing step are processed in the same machine.
The present invention may best be understood through the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:


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