Method for modifying a material layer using gas cluster ion beam processing

1. A method of modifying a material layer on a substrate, comprising:

forming a material layer on a substrate, said material layer having an initial concentration of a specie;

establishing a gas cluster ion beam (GCIB) having said specie, wherein said GCIB comprises an energy per atom ratio ranging from about 0.25 eV per atom to about 100 eV per atom; and

after said forming, modifying said initial concentration of said specie present in said material layer to a final concentration by exposing said material layer to said GCIB containing said specie.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

said material layer comprises an oxide, and wherein said specie present in said material layer comprises oxygen; or

said material layer comprises a nitride, and wherein said specie present in said material layer comprises nitrogen; or

said material layer comprises an oxide and a nitride, and wherein said specie present in said material layer comprises oxygen and nitrogen; or

said material layer comprises a carbide, and wherein said specie present in said material layer comprises carbon; or

said material layer comprises a carbide and an oxide, and wherein said specie present in said material layer comprises carbon and oxygen; or

said material layer comprises a carbide and a nitride, and wherein said specie present in said material layer comprises carbon and nitrogen; or

said material layer comprises a carbide, an oxide, and a nitride, and wherein said specie present in said material layer comprises carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

said material layer comprises silicon oxide (SiO x ), a silicon oxynitride (SiO x N y ), a metal silicate (MSiO x ), a metal silicon oxynitride (MSiO x N y ), or a metal oxide (MO x ), and wherein said specie comprises oxygen; or

said material layer comprises silicon nitride (SiN y ), silicon oxynitride (SiO x N y ), boron nitride (BN y ), a metal silicon oxynitride (MSiO x N y ), a metal silicon nitride (MSiN y ), or a metal nitride (MN y ), and wherein said specie comprises nitrogen; or

said material layer comprises silicon carbide (SiC y ), silicon oxycarbide (SiO x C y ), silicon carbonitride (SiC x N y ), silicon oxycarbonitride (SiO x C y N z ), a metal carbide (MC y ), a metal carbonitride (MC x N y ), or a metal oxycarbonitride (MO x C y N z ), and wherein said specie comprises carbon.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein said material layer comprises silicon, or a metal, or both.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

adjusting at least one of an optical property, a thermal property, a chemical property, or an electrical property of said material layer during said modifying.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein said material layer comprises said specie and one or more other species.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein said final concentration of said specie provides a substantially stoichiometric relationship between said specie and said other species in said material layer.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein said material layer comprises HfO 2 , HfSi x O y , ZrO 2 , ZrSi x O y , TiO 2 , Ta 2 O 5 , a rare earth oxide, mixed rare earth oxide, rare earth nitride, mixed rare earth nitride, rare earth oxynitride, mixed rare earth oxynitride, aluminum oxide, aluminum nitride, rare earth aluminum oxide, mixed rare earth aluminum oxide, rare earth aluminum nitride, mixed rare earth aluminum nitride, rare earth aluminum oxynitride, or mixed rare earth aluminum oxynitride.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein said material layer comprises a conductive material, a non-conductive material, or a semi-conductive material.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein said modifying said initial concentration comprises:

providing said substrate in a reduced-pressure environment;

generating said GCIB in said reduced-pressure environment from a pressurized gas mixture;

selecting a beam acceleration potential and a beam dose to modify the composition of said material layer;

accelerating said GCIB according to said beam acceleration potential; and

irradiating said accelerated GCIB onto at least a portion of said substrate according to said beam dose.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein said pressurized gas mixture comprises He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe, a B-containing gas, a C-containing gas, a Si-containing gas, a Ge-containing gas, a N-containing gas, a P-containing gas, an As-containing gas, an O-containing gas, a S-containing gas, a F-containing gas, or a Cl-containing gas, or any combination of two or more thereof.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein said pressurized gas mixture comprises a nitrogen-containing gas and an inert gas, or an oxygen-containing gas and an inert gas, or a combination thereof.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein said pressurized gas mixture comprises a noble gas, O 2 , CO 2 , CO, N 2 , NH 3 , NF 3 , NO, N 2 O, or NO 2 , or any combination of two or more thereof.

14. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

modifying a depth or a concentration profile or both a depth and concentration profile of said species in said material layer.

15. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

introducing another specie to said material layer, or

modifying a concentration of said another specie already present in said material layer.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein said final concentration of said specie present in said material layer is less than said initial concentration following said GCIB exposure, or said final concentration of said specie present in said material layer is greater than said initial concentration following said GCIB exposure.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein a final concentration of a first specie present in said material layer is less than an initial concentration of said first specie present in said material layer following said GCIB exposure, and wherein a final concentration of a second specie present in said material layer is greater than an initial concentration of said second specie in said material layer following said GCIB exposure.

18. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

annealing said material layer.

19. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

treating said material layer with an inert GCIB.

20. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

performing an etching process prior to performing said modifying.