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US-12624443-B2 - Precursor delivery system and method for high speed cyclic deposition

US12624443B2US 12624443 B2US12624443 B2US 12624443B2US-12624443-B2

Abstract

The disclosed technology relates generally to semiconductor manufacturing, and more particularly to precursor delivery in cyclic deposition. In one aspect, a thin film deposition system comprises a thin film deposition chamber configured to deposit a thin film by alternatingly exposing a substrate to a plurality of precursors. The thin film system additionally comprises a precursor source connected to the thin film deposition chamber by a precursor delivery line, wherein the precursor delivery line comprises a high conductance line portion between the precursor source and a final valve outside of the thin film deposition chamber. The high conductance line portion is elongated in a flow direction and has a conductance that is at least four times greater than either of immediately adjacent low conductance line portions connected at opposing ends of the high conductance line portion. The thin film system further comprises a single final valve between the high conductance line portion and the thin film deposition chamber.

Inventors

  • Martin J. Salinas
  • Miguel Saldana
  • Victor CALDERON
  • Santosh Narayan Ramachandra Kumar

Assignees

  • EUGENUS, INC.

Dates

Publication Date
20260512
Application Date
20220210

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . A method of depositing a thin film, the method comprising: providing a thin film deposition system comprising a high conductance line portion as part of a precursor delivery line between a precursor source and a final valve outside of a thin film deposition chamber, wherein the high conductance line portion is elongated in a flow direction and has a conductance that is at least four times greater than either of immediately adjacent low conductance line portions connected at opposing ends of the high conductance line portion; and alternatingly exposing a substrate in the thin film deposition chamber to a plurality of precursors in a plurality of cycles, wherein alternatingly exposing the substrate comprises pressurizing the high conductance line portion to a first pressure with a first one of the precursors with the final valve closed, and opening the final valve for a duration such that the pressure in the high conductance line portion remains above a second pressure lower than the first pressure by less than 10%.
  2. 2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the duration is less than 1 sec.
  3. 3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the first pressure is 70-650 Torr.
  4. 4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein a pressure drop between the first pressure and the second pressure is less than 50 Torr.
  5. 5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein a standard deviation of a mean pressure within the high conductance line portion throughout the plurality of cycles is less than 10%.
  6. 6 . The method of claim 4 , wherein a drift of a mean pressure within the high conductance line portion throughout the plurality of cycles is less than 10%.
  7. 7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the high conductance line portion has a cylindrical shape having a diameter of 0.5-5 inches.
  8. 8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the high conductance line portion further has a length such that the high conductance line portion has a volume of 0.3-5 liters.
  9. 9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the high conductance line portion serves as a transient intermediate reservoir configured to store a gas precursor or a liquid precursor that has been pre-vaporized prior to reaching the high conductance line portion.
  10. 10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the high conductance line portion is disposed directly above a lid of the thin film deposition chamber.
  11. 11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the final valve is an stomic layer deposition (ALD) valve disposed directly above a lid of the thin film deposition chamber.
  12. 12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein during an exposure of the substrate to a precursor in the precursor source, the final valve is activated such that the precursor continuously flows from the precursor source to the thin film deposition chamber through the high conductance line portion without being interrupted by actuation of another valve.
  13. 13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the thin film deposition chamber comprises a plurality of processing stations each configured for depositing a respective thin film by alternatingly exposing a respective substrate to a same or different plurality of precursors, wherein each of the processing stations comprises: a gas distribution plate, a susceptor, and a lid enclosing the thin film deposition chamber.
  14. 14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the high conductance line portion serves as an intermediate reservoir such that, during an exposure of the substrate to a precursor in the precursor source, the precursor continuously flows from the precursor source to the thin film deposition chamber through the high conductance line portion.
  15. 15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the high conductance line portion serves as a dedicated reservoir for the precursor source.
  16. 16 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the ALD valve has a response time, between an end of a command signal and completion of opening or closing of a diaphragm thereof, of less than 30 ms.
  17. 17 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the ALD valve has a valve flow coefficient (C v ) exceeding 0.25.
  18. 18 . The method of claim 11 , wherein introducing the first one of the precursors into the thin film deposition chamber comprises continuously flowing an inert gas into the thin film deposition chamber through the ALD valve while introducing the first one of the precursors into the thin film deposition chamber.
  19. 19 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the thin film comprises a TiN thin film or a TiSiN thin film.
  20. 20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the plurality of precursors comprises one or more of a Ti precursor, a Si precursor and a N precursor.

Description

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE TO ANY PRIORITY APPLICATIONS Any and all applications for which a foreign or domestic priority claim is identified in the Application Data Sheet as filed with the present application are hereby incorporated by reference under 37 CFR 1.57. This application claims the priority benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/149,039, filed Feb. 12, 2021, entitled “HIGH CONDUCTANCE PRECURSOR DELIVERY SYSTEM FOR CYCLIC DEPOSITION,” the content of which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference in its entirety. BACKGROUND Field of the Invention The disclosed technology relates generally to semiconductor manufacturing, and more particularly to precursor delivery in cyclic deposition. Description of the Related Art As semiconductor devices continue to scale in lateral dimensions, there is a corresponding scaling of vertical dimensions of the semiconductor devices, including thickness scaling of the functional thin films such as electrodes and dielectrics. Semiconductor fabrication involves various thin films that are deposited throughout the process flow. Various thin films can be deposited using different techniques, including wet and dry deposition methods. Wet deposition methods include, e.g., aerosol/spray deposition, sol-gel method and spin-coating. Dry deposition methods include physical vapor-based techniques, e.g., physical vapor deposition (PVD) and evaporation. Dry deposition methods additionally include precursor and/or chemical reaction-based techniques, e.g., chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and cyclic deposition such as atomic layer deposition (ALD). SUMMARY In a first aspect, a thin film deposition system comprises a thin film deposition chamber configured to deposit a thin film by alternatingly exposing a substrate to a plurality of precursors. The thin film system additionally comprises a precursor source connected to the thin film deposition chamber by a precursor delivery line, wherein the precursor delivery line comprises a high conductance line portion between the precursor source and the thin film deposition chamber. The high conductance line portion is elongated in a flow direction and has a conductance that is at least four times greater than either of immediately adjacent low conductance line portions connected at opposing ends of the high conductance line portion. The thin film system further comprises a single final valve between the high conductance line portion and the thin film deposition chamber. In a second aspect, a thin film deposition system comprises a thin film deposition chamber configured to deposit a thin film by alternatingly exposing a substrate to a plurality of precursors. The thin film system additionally comprises a precursor source connected to the thin film deposition chamber by a precursor delivery line, wherein the precursor delivery line comprises a high conductance line portion between the precursor source and a final valve outside of the thin film deposition chamber. The high conductance line portion is elongated in a flow direction and has a conductance that is at least four times greater than either of immediately adjacent low conductance line portions connected at opposing ends of the high conductance line portion. The system is configured such that during an exposure of the substrate to a precursor in the precursor source, the precursor continuously flows from the precursor source to the thin film deposition chamber through the high conductance line portion without being interrupted by actuation of another valve. In a third aspect, a thin film deposition system comprises a plurality of processing stations sharing a thin film deposition chamber. Each of the processing stations comprises a gas distribution plate, a susceptor and a lid enclosing the thin film deposition chamber. The thin film deposition system additionally comprises a precursor source connected to the thin film deposition chamber by a precursor delivery line, wherein the precursor delivery line comprises a high conductance line portion between the precursor source and a final valve outside of the thin film deposition chamber. The high conductance line portion is elongated in a flow direction and has a conductance that is at least four times greater than either of immediately adjacent low conductance line portions connected at opposing ends of the high conductance line portion. In a fourth aspect, a method of depositing a thin film comprises providing a thin film deposition system comprising a high conductance line portion as part of a precursor delivery line between a precursor source and a final valve outside of a thin film deposition chamber, wherein the high conductance line portion is elongated in a flow direction and has a conductance that is at least four times greater than either of immediately adjacent low conductance line portions connected at opposing ends of the high conductance line portion. The method additionally comprise