US-12624442-B2 - Methods for providing a precursor mixture to a reaction chamber

Abstract

Aspects described herein provide a method of providing a precursor mixture of a first precursor and a second precursor to a reaction chamber. The method may comprise maintaining the first precursor in the first precursor vessel at a first precursor temperature and the second precursor in the second precursor vessel at a second precursor temperature. Fluid connections may be provided between the first precursor vessel and the mixing chamber, between the second precursor vessel and the mixing chamber, and between the mixing chamber and the reaction chamber. The reaction chamber is separate from the mixing chamber. The precursor mixture is formed in the mixing chamber by mixing the first precursor and the second precursor and then provided to the reaction chamber.

Inventors

• René Henricus Jozef Vervuurt
• Timothee Blanquart

Assignees

• ASM IP Holding, B.V.

Dates

Publication Date

20260512

Application Date

20230907

Claims (19)

1. 1 . A method of providing a first precursor and a second precursor to a reaction chamber, the method comprising: providing a precursor module comprising a first precursor vessel comprising a first precursor, a second precursor vessel comprising a second precursor, and a mixing chamber comprising a mixing valve on an exhaust port of the mixing chamber; maintaining the first precursor in the first precursor vessel at a first precursor temperature; maintaining the second precursor in the second precursor vessel at a second precursor temperature; providing a first fluid connection between the first precursor vessel and the mixing chamber; providing a second fluid connection between the second precursor vessel and the mixing chamber; providing a third fluid connection between the mixing chamber and the reaction chamber that is separate from the mixing chamber; controlling, by a controller, the first precursor temperature and the second precursor temperature, wherein the first precursor and the second precursor are provided separately to the mixing chamber, and wherein providing the first precursor and the second precursor separately to the mixing chamber comprises: first providing a first pre-determined quantity of the first precursor to the mixing chamber; and after providing the first pre-determined quantity of the first precursor, providing a second pre-determined quantity of the second precursor to the mixing chamber; forming a precursor mixture, in the mixing chamber, by mixing the first pre-determined quantity of the first precursor and the second pre-determined quantity of the second precursor; and opening the mixing valve on the exhaust port of the mixing chamber; providing, based on the opening, the precursor mixture to the reaction chamber.
2. 2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first precursor has a first vapor pressure; wherein the second precursor has a second vapor pressure; and wherein the second vapor pressure is higher than the first vapor pressure.
3. 3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein a first mass controller is provided between the first precursor vessel and the mixing chamber, the first mass controller being constructed and arranged to regulate the first pre-determined quantity of the first precursor that is provided to the mixing chamber.
4. 4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein a second mass controller is provided between the second precursor vessel and the mixing chamber, the second mass controller being constructed and arranged to regulate the second pre-determined quantity of the second precursor that is provided to the mixing chamber.
5. 5 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising a step of providing a carrier gas to the mixing chamber.
6. 6 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the precursor mixture is continuously provided to the reaction chamber.
7. 7 . A method of providing a precursor mixture to a reaction chamber, the method comprising executing one or more mixing cycles, a mixing cycle comprising: mixing a first precursor and a second precursor in accordance with the method of claim 1 , thereby forming a precursor mixture in a mixing chamber that is separated from the reaction chamber; and opening a mixing valve on an exhaust port of the mixing chamber, the mixing valve being provided downstream of the mixing chamber and upstream of the reaction chamber, thereby providing the precursor mixture from the mixing chamber to the reaction chamber.
8. 8 . The method according to claim 7 , wherein the mixing valve is provided on an exhaust port of the mixing chamber.
9. 9 . The method according to claim 7 , wherein the mixing valve is provided on a precursor mixture line; and wherein the precursor mixture line is constructed and arranged to provide the precursor mixture to the reaction chamber when the mixing valve is in an open position.
10. 10 . A method of filling a gap comprising: introducing a substrate in a reaction chamber, the substrate being provided with a gap; introducing a precursor mixture to the reaction chamber by the method according to claim 1 ; and generating a plasma in the reaction chamber, thereby forming a gap filling fluid that at least partially fills the gap, wherein the precursor mixture comprises a first precursor and a second precursor; and wherein the first precursor and the second precursor are different and each has a molar mass of at least 50 g/mol.
11. 11 . A method of filling a gap comprising: introducing a substrate in a reaction chamber, the substrate being provided with a gap; introducing a precursor mixture to the reaction chamber by the method according to claim 1 ; and generating a plasma in the reaction chamber, thereby forming a gap filling fluid that at least partially fills the gap, wherein the precursor mixture comprises a first precursor and a second precursor; and wherein the first precursor and the second precursor are different and each comprises at least one of an alkali metal, an alkaline earth metal, a halogen, boron (B), aluminum (Al), carbon (C), and silicon (Si).
12. 12 . The method according to claim 11 , wherein the first precursor comprises a first element, wherein the second precursor comprises a second element; wherein the first element and the second element are different; and wherein the first element and the second element are incorporated in the gap filling fluid.
13. 13 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first precursor and the second precursor is selected from a list consisting of hydrocarbons, amines, amides, imides, silanes, alkylsilanes, siloxanes, and borazanes.
14. 14 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first precursor and the second precursor comprises: C; Si; Si and C; Si, C, and O; Si, C, and N; Si and N; Si; B and N; or C, O, and N.
15. 15 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first precursor and the second precursor comprises a metal precursor; and wherein the metal precursor comprises a metal.
16. 16 . The method according to claim 15 , wherein the metal is selected from an alkali metal, an earth alkali metal, a transition metal, a lanthanide, and a post transition metal.
17. 17 . The method according to claim 15 , wherein the metal precursor is selected from a list consisting of: metal halides, metal alkyls, metal alkenyls, metal aryls, metal beta-diketonates, metal alkoxides, and metal aryloxides.
18. 18 . The method of claim 1 , wherein, based on forming the precursor mixture, the precursor mixture comprises a composition of elements that is greater than a total number of elements corresponding to the first precursor or the second precursor.
19. 19 . A method of mixing a first precursor and a second precursor, the method comprising: providing a precursor module comprising a first precursor vessel comprising a first precursor, a second precursor vessel comprising a second precursor, and a mixing chamber comprising a mixing valve on an exhaust port of the mixing chamber; providing a first fluid connection between the first precursor vessel and the mixing chamber, the first fluid connection being provided with a first liquid flow regulator; providing a second fluid connection between the second precursor vessel and the mixing chamber, the second fluid connection being provided with a second liquid flow regulator; providing a third fluid connection between the mixing chamber and a reaction chamber that is separate from the mixing chamber; controlling, by a controller, the first liquid flow regulator to provide a first pre-determined quantity of the first precursor to the mixing chamber; after providing the first pre-determined quantity of the first precursor to the mixing chamber, controlling, by the controller, the second liquid flow regulator to provide a second pre-determined quantity of the second precursor to the mixing chamber; forming a precursor mixture, in the mixing chamber, by mixing the first pre-determined quantity of the first precursor and the second pre-determined quantity of the second precursor; and opening the mixing valve on the exhaust port of the mixing chamber; and providing, based on the opening, the precursor mixture to the reaction chamber.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application 63/374,936 filed on Sep. 8, 2022, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. FIELD OF INVENTION The present disclosure generally relates to methods and systems suitable for providing a precursor mixture to a reaction chamber. The resulting precursor mixture can be used, for example, for forming a flowable material in gaps, trenches, and the like by plasma-assisted deposition processes and the like. BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE Flowable materials, or gap filling fluids, are commonly used for filling small gaps or recesses in semiconductor device processing. However, only a limited amount of materials can be formed using gap filling fluid-based processes of the prior art. Furthermore, it can be difficult to control the composition of the materials that are formed. In particular, the elemental composition of the gap filling fluid is often very similar to the elemental composition of the precursor which is used in the corresponding process. A mixture of precursors can be used for compositional tuning, and opens up compositions that are approximately in between the compositions of the constituent precursors in the mixture. Such methods are described in US publication no. 2023/0212744 A1. When multiple precursors are used, it is desirable to provide those precursors uniformly to a substrate. Therefore, there is a need for methods and devices for uniformly providing multiple precursors to a substrate. Additionally, there is a need for methods and devices for homogeneously mixing a precursor mixture before it is provided to a reaction chamber. Any discussion, including discussion of problems and solutions, set forth in this section has been included in this disclosure solely for the purpose of providing a context for the present disclosure. Such discussion should not be taken as an admission that any or all of the invention was previously known or otherwise constitutes prior art. SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE Various embodiments of the present disclosure relate to methods for mixing precursors, to structures and devices formed using such methods, and to apparatus for performing the methods and/or for forming the structure and/or devices. The ways in which various embodiments of the present disclosure address drawbacks of prior methods and systems are discussed in more detail below. In particular, described herein is a method of mixing a first precursor and a second precursor. The method comprises providing a precursor module that comprises a first precursor vessel comprising a first precursor, a second precursor vessel comprising a second precursor, and a mixing chamber. The method further comprises maintaining the first precursor in the first precursor vessel at a first precursor temperature. The method further comprises maintaining the second precursor in the second precursor vessel at a second precursor temperature. The method further comprises providing a first fluid connection between the first precursor vessel and the mixing chamber. The method further comprises providing a second fluid connection between the second precursor vessel and the mixing chamber. The method further comprises providing the first precursor and the second precursor to the mixing chamber. The method further comprises controlling, by a controller, the first precursor temperature and the second precursor temperature. Thus, a first predetermined amount of first precursor is provided to the mixing chamber and a second predetermined amount of second precursor is provided to the mixing chamber. In some embodiments, the first precursor has a first vapor pressure, the second precursor has a second vapor pressure, the second vapor pressure is higher than the first vapor pressure, and providing the first precursor and the second precursor to the mixing chamber comprises first providing the first precursor to the mixing chamber and subsequently providing the second precursor to the mixing chamber. In some embodiments, a first mass controller is provided between the first precursor source and the mixing chamber. The first mass controller is constructed and arranged to regulate the amount of first precursor that is provided to the mixing chamber. In some embodiments, a second mass controller is provided between the second precursor source and the mixing chamber. The second mass controller is constructed and arranged to regulate the amount of second precursor that is provided to the mixing chamber. Further described herein is a method of mixing a first precursor and a second precursor. The method comprises providing a precursor module comprising a first precursor vessel comprising a first precursor, a second precursor vessel comprising a second precursor, and a mixing chamber. The method further comprises providing a first fluid connection between the first precursor vessel and the mixing chamber. The first fluid connectio