Plasma Treatment of Low-K Surface to Improve Barrier Deposition

摘要

Methods and apparatus for processing using a remote plasma source are disclosed. The apparatus includes an outer chamber enclosing a substrate support, a remote plasma source, and a showerhead. A substrate heater can be mounted in the substrate support. A transport system moves the substrate support and is capable of positioning the substrate. The plasma system may be used to generate activated species. The activated species can be used to treat the surfaces of low-k and/or ultra low-k dielectric materials to facilitate improved deposition of diffusion barrier materials.

主权项

1. A method comprising:
providing a substrate having an inter-metal dielectric layer formed thereon; exposing the inter-metal dielectric layer to activated species,
wherein the activated species are generated using a plasma source,wherein the activated species is at least one of O, N, CI, F, or H; and after the exposing, depositing a diffusion barrier layer on the inter-metal dielectric layer using an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process, wherein a nucleation delay for the ALD process is less than 5 cycles.