Surface modified depth controlled deposition for plasma based deposition

1. A method for performing gap fill of a feature on a substrate, comprising:

performing in order the following operations of;

(a) moving the substrate into a process chamber;

(b) performing, consecutively, a plurality of cycles of an atomic layer deposition process on the substrate in the process chamber;

(c) purging process gases from the atomic layer deposition process from the process chamber;

(d) performing a plasma treatment on the substrate by introducing a fluorine-containing gas into the process chamber and applying RF power to the fluorine-containing gas to generate a fluorine plasma in the process chamber;

(e) purging process gases from the plasma treatment from the process chamber;

(f) repeating, in order, operations (b) through (e) until a predefined plurality of cycles of operations (b) through (e) has been performed.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the fluorine plasma passivates a portion of the feature on the substrate, thereby inhibiting deposition by the atomic layer deposition process over the portion of the feature that is passivated.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the portion of the feature that is passivated extends from a top of the feature down to a predefined target level in the feature.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the predefined target level is controlled by one or more parameters of the plasma treatment.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the parameters of the plasma treatment include one or more of the following: a duration of the plasma treatment, a temperature of the plasma treatment, a pressure of the fluorine-containing gas, and a level of the RF power.

6. The method of claim 3 , wherein the feature includes a reentrancy, and wherein the predefined target level is defined approximately at a level of the reentrancy, so that deposition by the atomic layer deposition process is substantially inhibited above the level of the reentrancy by the plasma treatment.

7. The method of claim 2 , wherein the fluorine plasma passivates the portion of the feature by forming fluorine terminated species along surfaces of the portion of the feature.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

(g) performing one or more cycles of the atomic layer deposition process.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the predefined number of cycles of operation (e) is configured to effect gap fill so as to remove a reentrancy in the feature.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the one or more cycles of the atomic layer deposition process of operation (g) are configured to complete the gap fill of the feature.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the atomic layer deposition process is configured to deposit an oxide in the feature of the substrate.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the fluorine-containing gas is CH 3 F, CHF 3 , CF 4 , C 2 H 4 F 2 , C 2 H 2 F 4 , C 3 H 2 F 6 , C 4 H 2 F 8 , C 4 F 8 , NF 3 , or SF 6 .

13. A method for performing gap fill of a feature on a substrate, comprising:

performing in order the following operations of;

(a) moving the substrate into a process chamber;

(b) performing, consecutively, a plurality of cycles of an atomic layer deposition process on the substrate in the process chamber, the atomic layer deposition process being configured to deposit an oxide in the feature of the substrate;

(c) purging process gases from the atomic layer deposition process from the process chamber;

(d) performing a plasma treatment on the substrate by introducing a fluorine-containing gas into the process chamber and applying RF power to the fluorine-containing gas to generate a fluorine plasma in the process chamber;

(e) purging process gases from the plasma treatment from the process chamber;

(f) repeating, in order, operations (b) through (e) until a predefined plurality of cycles of operations (b) through (e) has been performed;

(g) performing a plurality of cycles of the atomic layer deposition process.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the fluorine plasma passivates a portion of the feature on the substrate, thereby inhibiting deposition by the atomic layer deposition process over the portion of the feature that is passivated.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the portion of the feature that is passivated extends from a top of the feature down to a predefined target level in the feature.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the predefined target level is controlled by one or more parameters of the plasma treatment.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the parameters of the plasma treatment include one or more of the following: a duration of the plasma treatment, a temperature of the plasma treatment, a pressure of the fluorine-containing gas, and a level of the RF power.

18. A method for performing gap fill of a feature on a substrate, comprising:

performing in order the following operations of;

(a) moving the substrate into a process chamber;

(b) performing, consecutively, a plurality of cycles of an atomic layer deposition process on the substrate in the process chamber;

(c) purging process gases from the atomic layer deposition process from the process chamber;

(d) performing a plasma treatment on the substrate by introducing a fluorine-containing gas into the process chamber and applying RF power to the fluorine-containing gas to generate a fluorine plasma in the process chamber, the RF power being applied at a frequency in the range of approximately 200 to 600 kHz;

(e) purging process gases from the plasma treatment from the process chamber;

(f) repeating, in order, operations (b) through (e) until a predefined plurality of cycles of operations (b) through (e) has been performed.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein a pressure of the plasma treatment is in the range of about 0.5 to 8 Torr.

20. The method of claim 18 , wherein a duration of the plasma treatment is in the range of about 0.1 to 3 seconds.