Method and apparatus for sputter deposition

摘要

A physical vapor deposition chamber is employed to sputter-deposit a layer of material, such as a tantalum or tantalum nitride barrier layer, in a via formed on a semiconductor substrate. After the sputter-deposition step, a second processing step is performed in which material from the barrier layer is back-sputtered from the bottom wall of the via. The second step is performed at a high pedestal bias and with substantial power applied to the sputtering target. The power applied to the sputtering target in the second step may be at a higher level than the power applied to the sputtering target in the first step. Numerous other aspects are provided.