Plasma-activated deposition of conformal films

Abstract

Embodiments related to depositing thin conformal films using plasma-activated conformal film deposition (CFD) processes are described herein. In one example, a method of processing a substrate includes, applying photoresist to the substrate, exposing the photoresist to light via a stepper, patterning the resist with a pattern and transferring the pattern to the substrate, selectively removing photoresist from the substrate, placing the substrate into a process station, and, in the process station, in a first phase, generating radicals off of the substrate and adsorbing the radicals to the substrate to form active species, in a first purge phase, purging the process station, in a second phase, supplying a reactive plasma to the surface, the reactive plasma configured to react with the active species and generate the film, and in a second purge phase, purging the process station.

1 . A semiconductor substrate processing tool comprising:
 a processing station;   a substrate holder disposed inside the process station, the substrate holder configured to support the semiconductor substrate;   a plasma source fluidly coupled to the process station;   a controller, configured to execute instructions held in memory, the instructions comprising:   in a first phase instructions for:
 generating precursor radicals off of a surface of the substrate, and 
 adsorbing the precursor radicals to the surface to form surface active species, 
   in a first purge phase instructions for purging residual precursor from the process station,   in a second phase instructions for supplying a reactive plasma to the surface, the reactive plasma being configured to react with the surface active species and generate a thin conformal film, wherein the thin conformal film is selected from the group consisting of a silicon oxide film, a silicon nitride film, a silicon carbide film, and a silicon boride film, and   in a second purge phase instructions for purging residual reactant from the process station.   
     
     
         2 . The processing tool of  claim 1 , wherein the plasma source comprises a high frequency direct source and/or a low frequency direct source. 
     
     
         3 . The processing tool of  claim 1 , wherein the plasma source comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of a parallel plate plasma source, an inductively coupled plasma source, a helicon wave plasma source, an electron cyclotron resonance plasma source, a magnetron-enhanced plasma source, and a direct current glow plasma source. 
     
     
         4 . The processing tool of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions to in a third phase:
 generating a doping plasma above the surface of the substrate using one or more of a high frequency plasma, and a low frequency plasma, the doping plasma comprising a dopant; and   doping the thin conformal film with the dopant.   
     
     
         5 . The processing tool of  claim 1 , further comprising a stepper. 
     
     
         6 . The processing tool of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions for adjusting a deposition rate for the thin conformal film by adjusting a duration of a high-frequency plasma during the first phase. 
     
     
         7 . The processing tool of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions for adjusting a deposition rate for the thin conformal film by adjusting a number of pulses of a high-frequency plasma during the first phase. 
     
     
         8 . A semiconductor substrate processing tool comprising:
 a processing station;   a substrate holder disposed inside the process station, the substrate holder configured to support the semiconductor substrate;   a plasma source fluidly coupled to the process station;   a controller, configured to execute instructions held in memory, the instructions comprising:   in a first phase instructions for:
 generating precursor radicals off of a surface of the substrate, and 
 adsorbing the precursor radicals to the surface to form surface active species, 
   in a first purge phase, instructions for purging residual precursor from the process station,   in a second phase, instructions for supplying a reactive plasma to the surface, the reactive plasma being configured to react with the surface active species and generate a thin conformal film, wherein the second phase instructions comprise instructions for generating the reactive plasma by alternately pulsing a high-frequency plasma and a low frequency plasma, and   in a second purge phase, purging residual reactant from the process station.   
     
     
         9 . The processing tool of  claim 8 , further comprising a stepper. 
     
     
         10 . The processing tool of  claim 8 , further comprising instructions to in a third phase:
 generating a doping plasma above the surface of the substrate using one or more of a high frequency plasma, and a low frequency plasma, the doping plasma comprising a dopant; and   doping the thin conformal film with the dopant.