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PECVD Silicon Nitride for Damascene Applications

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Albert Lee
Affiliation:
Dielectric Systems & Modules Product Business Group, Applied Materials Inc., Santa Clara, CA 95054, U.S.A.
Nagarajan Rajagopalan
Affiliation:
Dielectric Systems & Modules Product Business Group, Applied Materials Inc., Santa Clara, CA 95054, U.S.A.
Maggie Le
Affiliation:
Dielectric Systems & Modules Product Business Group, Applied Materials Inc., Santa Clara, CA 95054, U.S.A.
Bok Heon Kim
Affiliation:
Dielectric Systems & Modules Product Business Group, Applied Materials Inc., Santa Clara, CA 95054, U.S.A.
Hichem M'Saad
Affiliation:
Dielectric Systems & Modules Product Business Group, Applied Materials Inc., Santa Clara, CA 95054, U.S.A.
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Abstract

A Pecvd silicon nitride film, Damascene Nitride™, is deposited in a PECVD chamber with a hollow cathode faceplate using silane and ammonia as precursor gases. Various techniques (FTIR, RBS-HFS, SIMS, TDS and BTS) were used to characterize the structure, composition, density and wet etch rate of the film. FTIR analysis indicates that Damascene Nitride is very similar to a high density plasma (HDP) nitride film. HFS analysis shows the film's hydrogen content to be 13%,∼6% less than other PECVD nitride films, leading to a 20% improvement in etch selectivity to FSG. The film wet etch rate is 2 times slower than that of other PECVD nitrides, and the dielectric constant k was measured to be 6.8, which is lower compared to other PECVD nitrides and HDP CVD nitrides where k∼ 7.0 and 7.5, respectively. SIMS analysis shows that Cu diffusion is <250Å in the nitride, and low leakage current (10-10 A) is confirmed through BTS testing. The higher density of Damascene Nitride leads to higher etch selectivity and better Cu barrier properties, allowing a thinner nitride film to be used. Thinner nitride layers, in addition to the lower k of Damascene Nitride, leads to a 5-6% reduction in RC delay when Damascene Nitride is used with low k dielectric materials.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2002

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