Atomic layer deposition (ALD) method and reactor for producing a high quality layer

1. An atomic layer deposition method comprising:

providing a semiconductor substrate in a reactor; and

conducting one or more atomic layer deposition cycles to deposit one or more monolayers of the same material, the conducting of one or more atomic layer deposition cycles comprising:

providing, in each cycle, a pulse of a first precursor gas into the reactor at a first temperature,

providing, in each cycle, a first pulse of a second precursor gas into the reactor at a second temperature, and

providing, at least once during the cycles, a second pulse of the second precursor gas at a third temperature lower than the second temperature, the second pulse of the second precursor gas not being used to form a plasma,

wherein only the first precursor gas and the second precursor gas are provided as precursors during the conducting of the atomic layer deposition cycles, and wherein the first precursor gas is provided only at the first temperature, wherein the first precursor gas comprises hafnium tetrachloride and the second precursor gas comprises H2O.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the semiconductor substrate comprises a semiconductor material suitable in the field of integrated circuit (IC) processing.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the semiconductor substrate comprises at least one of the following: silicon, germanium, and silicon germanium.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first temperature is substantially between about 100° C. and about 800° C.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the second temperature is substantially equal to or higher than the first temperature.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the conducting of one or more atomic layer deposition cycles further comprises:

heating, at least once during the cycles, the substrate surface at a fourth temperature between the providing of a first pulse of a second precursor gas and the providing of a second pulse of the second precursor gas.

7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the fourth temperature is substantially equal or higher than the second temperature.

8. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the heating of the substrate surface at a fourth temperature is performed in inert atmosphere.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the substrate is exposed to a plasma treatment after the providing of a second pulse of the second precursor gas.

10. The method according to claim 9 , wherein the plasma comprises at least one of the following: N2O, NO, O2, N2, H2, NO2, and NH3.

11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the conducting of one or more atomic layer deposition cycles further comprises:

exposing, at least once during the cycles, the substrate to an N2O plasma treatment after the providing of a second pulse of the second precursor gas.

12. An atomic layer deposition method for depositing an hafnium oxide (HfO2) layer, comprising:

providing a semiconductor substrate in a reactor; and

forming one or more monolayers of HfO2 by atomic layer deposition, the forming of one or more monolayers of Hf2 comprising:

providing a pulse of HfCl4 in the reactor at about 300° C.,

providing a first pulse of H2O in the reactor at about 300° C.,

providing a second pulse of H2O in the reactor at room temperature, while the substrate is exposed to an N2O plasma treatment.

13. An atomic layer deposition method comprising:

providing a semiconductor substrate in a reactor; and

conducting at least a first and second atomic layer deposition cycle to deposit one or more monolayers of the same material, the second cycle being performed after the first cycle,

wherein the first cycle comprises:

providing a pulse of a first precursor gas into the reactor at a first temperature,

providing a first pulse of a second precursor gas into the reactor at a second temperature, and

providing a second pulse of the second precursor gas at a third temperature lower than the second temperature,

wherein the second cycle comprises:

providing a pulse of the first precursor gas into the reactor at the first temperature, and

providing a first pulse of the second precursor gas into the reactor at the second temperature,

wherein the substrate is exposed to a plasma treatment during and/or after the providing of a second pulse of the second precursor gas, wherein the second precursor gas is H2O, and wherein the second pulse of the second precursor gas is provided while the substrate is exposed to an N2O plasma treatment.

14. An atomic layer deposition method comprising:

providing a semiconductor substrate in a reactor; and

conducting one or more atomic layer deposition cycles to deposit one or more monolayers of the same material, the conducting of one or more atomic layer deposition cycles comprising:

providing, in each cycle, a pulse of a first precursor gas into the reactor at a first temperature,

providing, in each cycle, a first pulse of a second precursor gas into the reactor at a second temperature, and

providing, at least once during the cycles, a second pulse of the second precursor gas at a third temperature lower than the second temperature, the second pulse of the second precursor gas not being used to form a plasma,

wherein only the first precursor gas and the second precursor gas are provided as precursors during the conducting of the atomic layer deposition cycles, and wherein the first precursor gas is provided only at the first temperature,

wherein the first temperature and the second temperature are about 300° C., and the third temperature is room temperature.

15. The method according to claim 14 , wherein the first precursor gas comprises a halide or an oxyhalide.

16. The method according to claim 15 , wherein the halide comprises a metal halide and the oxyhalide comprises a metal oxyhalide.

17. The method according to claim 15 , wherein the first precursor gas comprises at least one of the following: HfCl4, TaCl5, WF6, WOCl4, ZrCl4, AlCl3, POCl3, TiCl4, and SiCl4.

18. The method according to claim 14 , wherein the second precursor gas comprises a precursor able to eliminate the ligands of the first precursor.

19. The method according to claim 18 wherein the second precursor gas consists of H2O, H2O2, O2, O3, NH3, H2S, H2Se, PH3, AsH3, C2H4 or Si2H6.

20. An atomic layer deposition method comprising:

providing a semiconductor substrate in a reactor; and

conducting one or more atomic layer deposition cycles to deposit one or more monolayers of the same material, the conducting of one or more atomic layer deposition cycles comprising:

providing, in each cycle, a pulse of a first precursor gas into the reactor at a first temperature,

providing, in each cycle, a first pulse of a second precursor gas into the reactor at a second temperature,

providing, at least once during the cycles, a second pulse of the second precursor gas at a third temperature lower than the second temperature, the second pulse of the second precursor gas not being used to form a plasma, and

heating, at least once during the cycles, the substrate surface at a fourth temperature between the providing of a first pulse of a second precursor gas and the providing of a second pulse of the second precursor gas,

wherein only the first precursor gas and the second precursor gas are provided as precursors during the conducting of the atomic layer deposition cycles, and wherein the first precursor gas is provided only at the first temperature,

wherein the fourth temperature is about 500° C.