A novel technology to reduce the antenna charging effects duringpolysilicon gate electron-cyclotron-resonance etching

A novel technique, which uses Cl₂/O₂ mixed gas in the electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) etching system, has been proposed to remove the antenna charging effect of the MOS capacitors with 5-nm-thick oxides during polysilicon gate etching. The Cl₂ /O₂ can cause the trenching effect and prevents the gate oxide from the charging damage. Furthermore, the ECR system can provide high polysilicon/oxide selectivity so that the Si substrate under gate oxide is not directly bombarded by the ions. Consequently, the E_bd degradation of the MOS capacitors disappears as the trenching effect is apparent by using moderate Cl₂/O₂ mixed gas     

Development of the self-aligned titanium silicide process for VLSI applications

A manufacturable self-aligned titanium silicide process which simultaneously silicides both polysilicon gates and junctions has been developed for VLSI applications. The process produces silicided gates and junctions with sheet resistances of 1.0-2.0 Ω/square. This paper describes the application of the self-aligned titanium silicide process to NMOS VLSI circuits of the 64K SRAM class with 1-µm gate lengths. Comparison of circuit yield data and test structure parameters from devices fabricated with and without the silicidation process has demonstrated that the self-aligned silicide process is compatible with both VLSI NMOS and CMOS technologies. The self-aligned titanium silicide process has some very significant manufacturing advantages over the more conventional deposited silicide on polysilicon technologies. In particular, the problems associated with etching and depositing a polycide gate stack are eliminated with the self-aligned process since the polycide etch is replaced with a much more straightforward polysilicon only etch. As gate lengths, gate oxide thicknesses, and source-drain junction depths are scaled, linewidth control, etch selectivity to the underlying gate oxide, and cross-sectional profile control become more critical. The stringent etch requirements are more easily satisfied with the self-aligned silicide process.     

Development of the Self-Aligned Titanium Silicide Process for VLSI Applications

A manufacturable self-aligned titanium silicide process which simultaneously silicides both polysilicon gates and junctions has been developed for VLSI applications. The process produces silicided gates and junctions with sheet resistances of 1.0-2.0 Omega/square. This paper describes the application of the self-aligned titanium silicide process to NMOS VLSI circuits of the 64K SRAM class with 1-/spl mu/m gate lengths. Comparison of circuit yield data and test structure parameters from devices fabricated with and without the silicidation process has demonstrated that the self-aligned silicide process is compatible with both VLSI NMOS and CMOS technologies. The self-aligned titanium silicide process has some very significant manufacturing advantages over the more conventional deposited silicide on polysilicon technologies. In particular, the problems associated with etching and depositing a polycide gate stack are eliminated with the self-aligned process since the polycide etch is replaced with a much more straightforward polysilicon only etch. As gate lengths, gate oxide thicknesses, and source-drain junction depths are scaled, Iinewidth control, etch selectivity to the underlying gate oxide, and cross-sectional profile control become more critical. The stringent etch requirements are more easily satisfied with the self-aligned silicide process.     

28 nm多晶硅硬掩模刻蚀中的棒状颗粒缺陷与对策分析

在摩尔定律的影响下,半导体制造的线宽尺寸逐步到达极限。当前28 nm及以下工艺制程中,多晶硅栅极刻蚀普遍采用双层联动的硬掩模刻蚀加多晶硅刻蚀的方法,可以实现关键尺寸的有效控制,但同时也增加了颗粒缺陷的发生率。针对多晶硅硬掩模刻蚀(Polysilicon Hard Mask Etch, P1HM-ET)过程中出现的棒状颗粒缺陷,分析了缺陷的来源和形成机理。通过精准调控刻蚀结束后静电卡盘(Electrostatic-Chuck, ESC)对晶圆的释放时间和自身电荷的释放时间来加强刻蚀腔体内颗粒的清除和减小晶背静电吸附作用。结果显示,当晶圆释放时间增加2 s, ESC电荷释放时间增加6 s后,减少了约80%的棒状颗粒缺陷。通过调控相关联的工艺参数来减少缺陷,可以有效减少消耗性零件的使用,从而降低生产成本。     

Investigation of the Process of Plasma Through Etching of HkMG Stack of Nanotransistor with a 32-nm Critical Dimension

The processes of plasma etching of stack layers to form a structure of a metal gate of a nanoscale transistor with a dielectric with a high level of dielectric permittivity (HkMG) are investigated. A resist mask formed by fine-resolution electron-beam lithography is used in the etching. The plasma etching of the stack’s layers is carried out in one technological etching cycle without a vacuum break. The sequential anisotropic etching process of the stack of polysilicon, tantalum nitride, and hafnium nitride, as well as the etching process of the gate insulator based on hafnium oxide with a high degree of selectivity in relation to the underlying crystalline silicon, which guarantees the complete removal of the layer of hafnium oxide and the minimal loss of the silicon layer (not more than 0.5 nm), is investigated.     

Selective wet etch of a TaN metal gate with an amorphous-silicon hard mask

The appropriate wet etch process for the selective removal of TaN on the HfSiON dielectric with an amorphous-silicon(a-Si) hardmask is presented.SCI(NH_4OH:H_2O_2:H_2O),which can achieve reasonable etch rates for metal gates and very high selectivity to high-k dielectrics and hardmask materials,is chosen as the TaN etchant. Compared with the photoresist mask and the tetraethyl orthosilicate(TEOS) hardmask,the a-Si hardmask is a better choice to achieve selective removal of TaN on the HfSiON dielectric be...     

Plasma Etching for Sub-45-nm TaN Metal Gates on High-k Dielectrics

Etching of TaN gates on high-k dielectrics (HfO₂ or HfAlO) is investigated using HBr/Cl₂ chemistry in a decoupled plasma source (DPS). The patterning sequence includes 248-nm lithography, plasma photoresist trimming, etching of a SiN-SiO₂ hard mask, and photoresist stripping, followed by TaN etching. TaN etching is studied by design of experiment (DOE) with four variables using a linear model with interactions. It is found that at a fixed substrate temperature and wafer chuck power, etch critical dimensions (CD) gain decreases with decreasing HBr/Cl₂ flow rate ratio and pressure and with increasing source power and total gas flow rate. Based on these DOE findings, subsequent optimization is performed and a three-step etching process is developed; a main feature of the process is progressively increasing HBr/Cl₂ flow rate ratio. The optimized process provides etch CD gain within 2 nm and gate profile close to vertical and reliable etch-stop on high-k dielectric. This process is successfully applied to the fabrication of the 40-nm HfAlO/TaN gate stack p-MOSFETs with good electrical parameters     

Patterning of narrow porous SiOCH trenches using a TiN hard mask

For the next technological generations of integrated circuits, the traditional challenges faced by etch plasmas (profile control, selectivity, critical dimensions, uniformity, defects, …) become more and more difficult, intensified by the use of new materials, the limitations of lithography, and the recent introduction of new device structures and integration schemes. Particularly in the field of the interconnect fabrication, where dual-damascene patterning is performed by etching trenches and vias in porous low-k dielectrics, the main challenges are in controlling the profile of the etched structures, minimizing plasma-induced damage, and controlling the impact of various types of etch stops and hard mask materials. Metallic hard masks can help thanks to their high selectivity toward low-k materials, and by avoiding low-k exposure to potentially degrading ashing plasmas. In this paper, we will present some key issues related to the patterning of narrow porous SiOCH trenches with a metallic (TiN) hard mask. Narrow trenches (down to 40 nm width) can be opened into TiN with a critical dimensions bias (around 10 nm) attributed to carbon and silicon containing deposits on the photoresist and TiN sidewalls during the etching. Porous SiOCH etching using a TiN hard mask instead of the conventional SiO₂ hard mask may lead to severe profile distortions, attributed to TiF_x compounds which settle on the trenches sidewalls. A chuck temperature of 60 °C and fluorine-rich plasmas are required to minimize those distortions. An etching process leading to almost straight porous SiOCH profiles presenting a slight bow has been developed. However a wiggling phenomenon has been evidenced for the etching of narrow and deep trenches. This phenomenon is attributed to the highly compressive residual stress in the TiN hard mask, which is released when the dielectric is not mechanically strong enough to withstand it.     

A study of the role of HBr and oxygen on the etch selectivity and the post-etch profile in a polysilicon/oxide etch using HBr/O2 based high density plasma for advanced DRAMs

The role of HBr and oxygen on the etch selectivity and the post-etch profile in a polysilicon/oxide etch using HBr/O₂ based high density plasma was studied. HBr/O₂-based polysilicon etch process used in this study seems to be highly selective to the underlying oxide and produce a dielectric fill-friendly post-etch profile depending on the flow rates of HBr and oxygen. When appropriate amounts of HBr and oxygen (∼30 sccm of HBr and ∼3 sccm of oxygen) are present in the etch plasma, brominated silicon oxide seems to be deposited on the original gate oxide and the gate stack sidewall from the reaction of SiBr_x (reaction product during polysilicon etch step) and oxygen during the HBr/O₂-based oxide etch process. The deposited brominated oxide on the thin gate oxide seems to make the HBr/O₂-based plasma etch process extremely selective to the thin gate oxide by protecting the underlying gate oxide. The deposited brominated oxide on the gate stack sidewall seems to prevent the notching by protecting the sidewall during gate stack etching. The etch rate of the brominated oxide seems to be much faster than that of the thermal oxide during the 200:1 diluted HF cleaning. However, the deposited brominated oxide on the thin gate oxide and the gate stack sidewall during the plasma etching survived the following 1 min 200:1 diluted HF cleaning, as was observed in a TEM micrograph (Fig. 2(a)).     

以非晶硅为硬掩膜的TaN金属栅的选择性湿法腐蚀

提出了一种在HfSiON介质上,采用非晶硅为硬掩膜的选择性去除TaN的湿法腐蚀工艺。由于SC1(NH4OH:H2O2:H2O)对金属栅具有合适的腐蚀速率且对硬掩膜和高K材料的选择比很高,所以选择它作为TaN的腐蚀溶液。与光刻胶掩膜和TEOS硬掩膜相比,因非晶硅硬掩膜不受SC1溶液的影响且很容易用NH4OH溶液去除（NH4OH溶液对TaN和HfSiON薄膜无损伤）,所以对于在HfSiON介质上实现TaN的选择性去除来说非晶硅硬掩膜是更好的选择。另外,在TaN金属栅湿法腐蚀和硬掩膜去除后, 高K介质的表面是光滑的,这可防止器件性能退化。因此,采用非晶硅为硬掩膜的TaN湿法腐蚀工艺可以应用于双金属栅集成,实现先淀积的TaN金属栅的选择性去除。     

Composite TiSi2/n + poly-Si low-resistivity gate electrode and interconnect for VLSI device technology

A composite polycide structure consisting of refractory metal silicide film on top of polysilicon has been considered as a replacement for polysilicon as a gate electrode and interconnect line in MOSFET integrated circuits. This paper presents fine-line patterning techniques and device characteristics of MOSFET's with a TiSi2polycide gate. A coevaporated TiSi2polycide gate was chosen for this study because it had 2 to 5 times lower resistivity as compared to other silicides. Polycide formation by electron-beam coevaporation is chosen in preference to sputtered TiSi2because of lower oxygen contamination. The coevaporation technique to form TiSi2polycide with a sheet resistivity of 1 Ω/square (bulk resistivity of 21 µΩ.cm) is described. Anisotropic etching of nominally 1-µm lines with a 15:1 etch selectivity against oxide is reported. Measurements of metal-semiconductor work function, fixed oxide charge density, dielectric strength, oxide defect density, mobile-ion contamination, threshold voltage, and mobility have been made on polycide structures with 25-nm gate oxides. These MOS parameters correspond very closely to those obtained for n+ poly-Si gates. In addition, the specific contact resistivity between Al and TiSi2polycide is lower than the contact resistivity between Al and polysilicon by one order of magnitude.     

Composite TiSi/sub 2//n+ Poly-Si Low-Resistivity Gate Electrode and Interconnect for VLSI Device Technology

A composite polycide structure consisting of refractory metal silicide film on top of polysilicon has been considered as a replacement for polysilicon as a gate electrode and interconnect line in MOSFET integrated circuits. This paper presents fine-line patterning techniques and device characteristics of MOSFET's with a TiSi/sub 2/ polycide gate. A coevaporated TiSi/sub 2/ polycide gate was chosen for this study because it had 2 to 5 times lower resistivity as compared to other silicides. Polycide formation by electron-beam coevaporation is chosen in preference to sputtered TiSi/sub 2/ because of lower oxygen contamination. The coevaporation technique to form TiSi/sub 2/ polycide with a sheet resistivity of 1 Omega/square (bulk resistivity of 21 µOmega · cm) is described. Anisotropic etching of nominally 1-/spl mu/m lines with a 15 : 1 etch selectivity against oxide is reported. Measurements of metal-semiconductor work function, fixed oxide charge density, dielectric strength, oxide defect density, mobile-ion contamination, threshold voltage, and mobility have been made on polycide structures with 25-nm gate oxides. These MOS parameters correspond very closely to those obtained for n+ poly-Si gates. In addition, the specific contact resistivity between Al and TiSi/sub 2/ polycide is lower than the contact resistivity between Al and polysilicon by one order of magnitude.     

HgCdTe干法刻蚀的掩模技术研究

文章报道了HgCdTe微台面列阵ICP干法刻蚀掩模技术研究的初步结果。首先采用常规光刻胶作为HgCdTe材料的ICP干法刻蚀掩模。扫描电镜结果发现，由于刻蚀的选择比低，所以掩模图形退缩严重，刻蚀端面的平整度差，台面侧壁垂直度低。因此采用磁控溅射生长的SiO2掩模进行了相同的HgCdTe干法刻蚀。结果发现，SiO2掩模具有更高的选择比和更好的刻蚀端面。但是深入的测试表明，介质掩模的生长对HgCdTe表面造成了电学损伤。最后通过优化生长条件，获得了无损伤的磁控溅射生长SiO2掩模技术。     

Cl2/Ar感应耦合等离子体刻蚀Si工艺研究

采用Cl2/Ar感应耦合等离子体（ICP）对单晶硅进行了刻蚀,工艺中用光刻胶作掩膜。研究了气体组分、ICP功率和RF功率等工艺参数对硅刻蚀速率和硅与光刻胶刻蚀选择比的影响,同时还研究了不同工艺条件对侧壁形貌的影响。结果表明,由于物理刻蚀机制和化学刻蚀机制的相对强度受到混合气体中Cl2和Ar比例的影响,硅刻蚀速率随着Ar组分的增加而降低,同时选择比也随之降低。硅刻蚀速率随着ICP功率的增大先增大继而减小,选择比则成上升趋势。硅刻蚀速率和选择比均随RF功率的增大单调增大。在Cl2/Ar混合气体的刻蚀过程中,离子辅助溅射是决定硅刻蚀效果的重要因素。同时,文中还研究分析了刻蚀工艺对于微槽效应和刻蚀侧壁形貌的影响,结果表明,通过提高ICP功率可以有效减小微槽和平滑侧壁。进一步研究了SiO2掩膜下,压强改变对于硅刻蚀形貌的影响,发现通过降低压强,可以明显地抑制杂草的产生。     

浮胶引起的缺陷对CCD成像的影响分析

针对大面阵CCD成像黑缺陷多的特点,从机理和制作工艺上进行了分析研究。结果表明,CCD成像黑缺陷主要由光刻工艺缺陷引起。光刻LOCOS、地和沟阻工艺中产生的浮胶是CCD成像黑缺陷的主要来源。在制作多晶硅栅过程中,光刻浮胶可产生成像黑缺陷或导致信号电荷转移问题。最后,提出了减少光刻工艺产生浮胶的方法。     

硅各向同性深刻蚀中的多层掩模工艺

掩模制备是硅各向同性刻蚀中的一项重要工艺.要实现深刻蚀,掩模必须满足结构致密、强度大及抗腐蚀性好的要求.一般光刻胶掩模无法在刻蚀液中较长时间地保持其掩蔽性能,很难实现深刻蚀;而金属掩模也容易出现针孔及裂纹等缺陷.因此提出使用Su-8负性光刻胶结合铬金属制备多层掩模.这种掩模结构制备工艺简单,经济实用;提高了掩模在高速刻蚀时的掩蔽性能,实现了深刻蚀.实验表明,其能满足300μm以上深刻蚀的要求,可用于硅及玻璃等材料的微加工.     

Annealing of radiation-induced positive charge in MOS devices with aluminum and polysilicon gate contacts

This paper discusses the removal of radiation-induced positive charge from MOS structures by low temperature thermal anneals. Results are presented for structures in which the gate oxide is covered either by an aluminum or by a polysilicon contact during the anneal. The anneals were performed in forming gas, nitrogen and hydrogen ambients. The presence of aluminum over the gate oxide is found to play an important role in the annealing of radiation-induced positive charge in these structures . While a 400?C anneal is sufficient to remove this charge from capacit or structures with aluminum gates, it leaves a small amount of residual charge (about 6xl0¹⁰}cm²}) in structures with polysilicon gates. Anneals at temperatures in excess of 550?C are required to remove this charge completely from the polysilicon-gated MOS devices. However when a thin layer of aluminum is present over the polysilicon contact during the anneal the charge can be removed easily at 400?C. The results in capacitor structures are consistent with those found in polysilicon gate MOSFET’s with similar coverage over the gate oxide.     

Process design for plasma etching of polysilicon/silicon nitride/polysilicon sandwich structures for sensor applications

An in situ two-step process has been developed for plasma etching of poly-Si/silicon nitride/poly-Si sandwich structures for a surface micromachined tactile sensor. The first step of the process uses a CF₄-based gas mixture to etch the upper poly-Si layer and the second uses a CHF₃-based gas mixture to etch the silicon nitride with an etching selectivity of three over the lower poly-Si layer. Both the upper poly-Si and the silicon nitride of the sandwich structure can be etched with the same photoresist mask, while the lower poly-Si layer remains relatively un-etched. Compared with a one-step process which uses the same chemistry as in step one of the two-step process, the two-step process provides the desired etch selectivity, better uniformity and process tolerance.     

大面积非光刻纳米电极间隙的制备

A lithography-independent and wafer scale method to fabricate a metal nanogap structure is demonstrated. Polysilicon was first dry etched using photoresist （PR） as the etch mask patterned by photolithography. Then, by depositing conformal SiO2 on the polysilicon pattern, etching back SiO2 anisotropically in the perpendicular direction and removing the polysilicon with KOH, a sacrificial SiO2 spacer was obtained. Finally, after metal evaporation and lifting-off of the SiO2 spacer, an 82 nm metal-gap structure was achieved. The size of the nanogap is not determined by the photolithography, but by the thickness of the SiO2. The method reported in this paper is compatible with modern semiconductor technology and can be used in mass production.     

The influence of p-polysilicon gate doping on the dielectric breakdown of PMOS devices

The influence of the gate electrode p-polysilicon doping concentration on gate oxide breakdown data is investigated. It is shown that a small variation in doping concentration of p-doped polysilicon gates as well as an inversion layer in p-polysilicon gate strongly affects the results, if PMOS devices are stressed in inversion biasing mode by applying a constant current stress.