Stress control by fluorination of silica film

摘要

A method and apparatus for controlling the intrinsic stress level of a deposited silicon oxide film. In one embodiment, the method includes incorporating a select amount of a halogen element into the film to obtain a resulting film having the desired stress level. In another embodiment, the method of the present invention includes the step of tuning the stress level of a silicon oxide film deposited under high density plasma conditions by incorporating a predetermined amount of fluorine into the film. <IMAGE>