Methods of forming hydrophobic surfaces on semiconductor device structures, methods of forming semiconductor device structures, and semiconductor device structures

Abstract

A method of forming a hydrophobic surface on a semiconductor device structure. The method comprises forming at least one structure having at least one exposed surface comprising titanium atoms. The at least one exposed surface of at least one structure is contacted with at least one of an organo-phosphonic acid and an organo-phosphoric acid to form a material having a hydrophobic surface on the at least one exposed surface of the least one structure. A method of forming a semiconductor device structure and a semiconductor device structure are also described.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of forming a hydrophobic surface on a semiconductor device structure, the method comprising:
 forming adjacent structures comprising at least one of a titanium material, a zirconium material, and a hafnium material over a substrate, each of the adjacent structures comprising sidewalls and including an opening between the sidewalls; and   forming a material having a hydrophobic surface on the sidewalls of each of the adjacent structures and extending from a retaining structure proximate an upper portion of each of the adjacent structures to the substrate.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein forming a material having a hydrophobic surface comprises contacting the sidewalls of each of the adjacent structures with an organo-phosphonic acid compound comprising the following structure: 
       
         
           
           
               
               
           
         
         wherein R comprises a hydrocarbon group comprising at least one of an aliphatic group and a cyclic group. 
       
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein R comprises an alkyl group comprising from 6 carbon atoms to 18 carbon atoms or an aryl group comprising from 6 carbon atoms to 22 carbon atoms. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein contacting the sidewalls of each of the adjacent structures with an organo-phosphonic acid compound comprises contacting the sidewalls of each of the adjacent structures with mono(n-octyl) phosphonic acid. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising sequentially exposing the adjacent structures to an aqueous halogen acid, tetraethylammonium hydroxide, and another aqueous halogen acid. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein forming adjacent structures comprising at least one of a titanium material, a zirconium material, and a hafnium material comprises forming the adjacent structures comprising at least one of elemental titanium, titanium nitride, titanium carbide, a titanium silicide, a titanium oxide, and a titanium alloy. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein forming adjacent structures comprising at least one of a titanium material, a zirconium material, and a hafnium material over a substrate comprises forming the adjacent structures over electrically conductive structures. 
     
     
         8 . A method of forming a semiconductor device structure, comprising:
 forming adjacent structures comprising exposed titanium atoms; and   forming a hydrophobic material extending over an outer sidewall of each of the adjacent structures from a retaining structure proximate an upper portion of each of the adjacent structures to a surface of a substrate underlying each of the adjacent structures, the hydrophobic material comprising hydrophobic compounds having a phosphate group bonded to an exposed titanium atom of the adjacent structures.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein forming adjacent structures comprises forming the adjacent structures to each have a height of greater than or equal to about 1.0×10 4  Angstroms and a diameter of less than or equal to about 650 Angstroms. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein forming a hydrophobic material comprises forming a monolayer of hydrophobic compounds. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein forming a hydrophobic material comprises forming the hydrophobic material to a thickness within a range of from about 10 Angstroms to about 25 Angstroms. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein forming adjacent structures comprises forming the adjacent structures to each have an aspect ratio within a range of from about 10:1 to about 50:1. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising removing the hydrophobic material. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein removing the hydrophobic material comprises exposing the hydrophobic material to a temperature greater than or equal to a thermal desorption temperature of the hydrophobic material. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 forming a dielectric material over surfaces of the substrate and the adjacent structures; and   forming a conductive material over surfaces of the dielectric material.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein forming a hydrophobic material extending over an outer sidewall of each of the adjacent structures from a retaining structure proximate an upper portion of the each of the adjacent structures to a surface of a substrate underlying each of the adjacent structures comprises maintaining a majority of an opening between the hydrophobic material extending over the adjacent structures. 
     
     
         17 . A semiconductor device structure, comprising:
 adjacent structures overlying a substrate, each of the adjacent structures comprising at least one of a titanium material, a zirconium material, and a hafnium material;   an opening in each of the adjacent structures, the opening located between sidewalls of each of the adjacent structures; and   a hydrophobic material overlying the sidewalls of each of the adjacent structures and extending from a retaining structure proximate an upper portion of each of the adjacent structures to the substrate.   
     
     
         18 . The semiconductor device structure of  claim 17 , wherein the retaining structure comprises silicon nitride. 
     
     
         19 . The semiconductor device structure of  claim 17 , wherein the retaining structure has a thickness within a range of from about 50 Angstroms to about 1000 Angstroms. 
     
     
         20 . The semiconductor device structure of  claim 17 , wherein each of the adjacent structures comprises titanium nitride.