Surface treatment of silicon or silicon germanium surfaces using organic radicals
Processes for surface treatment of a workpiece are provided. In one example implementation, a method can include performing an organic radical based surface treatment process on a workpiece. The organic radical based surface treatment process can include generating one or more species in a first chamber. The surface treatment process can include mixing one or more hydrocarbon molecules with the species to create a mixture. The mixture can include one or more organic radicals. The surface treatment process can include exposing a semiconductor material on the workpiece to the mixture in a second chamber.
1. An organic radical based surface treatment process, the process comprising:
generating one or more species using a plasma induced in a first chamber;
filtering the one or more species generated by the plasma using a separation grid to create a filtered mixture;
mixing one or more hydrocarbon molecules with the filtered mixture at the separation grid to generate one or more organic radicals; and
exposing a workpiece to the organic radicals in a second chamber, the second chamber being separated from the first chamber by the separation grid.
2. The process of claim 1 , wherein the workpiece comprises silicon.
3. The process of claim 1 , wherein the workpiece comprises silicon germanium.
4. The process of claim 1 , wherein the one or more hydrocarbon molecules have a chemical formula of C n H 2n+2 , where n is greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to 10.
5. The process of claim 1 , wherein the one or more hydrocarbon molecules have a chemical formula of C n H 2n , where n is greater than or equal to 2 and n is less than or equal to 10.
6. The process of claim 1 , wherein the one or more organic radicals are generated by reaction of the one or more hydrocarbon molecules with the species.
7. The process of claim 1 , wherein the one or more organic radicals comprise a CH 3 radical.
8. The process of claim 1 , wherein the organic radical based surface treatment process results in methylation on at least a portion of the workpiece.
9. The process of claim 1 , wherein the one or more species are generated by the plasma induced in a process gas in the first chamber.
10. The process of claim 9 , wherein the process gas is an inert gas.
11. The process of claim 10 , wherein the inert gas is helium.
12. The process of claim 11 , wherein the process gas comprises a hydrogen gas and the species comprise hydrogen radicals.
13. The process of claim 1 , wherein the species comprise one or more hydrogen radicals generated using a heated filament.
14. The process of claim 1 , wherein the one or more organic radicals are generated using pyrolysis of molecules or UV-assisted molecule dissociation.
15. A method for processing a workpiece, comprising:
generating one or more species using a plasma;
filtering the one or more species generated by the plasma using a separation grid to create a filtered mixture;
exposing the workpiece to one or more organic radicals to modify a surface wetting angle of a silicon containing dielectric layer on the workpiece;
performing a wet process on the workpiece after exposing the workpiece to the one or more organic radicals;
wherein the one or more organic radicals are generated by mixing one or more hydrocarbon molecules with the filtered mixture.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the one or more hydrocarbon molecules have a chemical formula of C n H 2n+2 , where n is greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to 10.
17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the one or more hydrocarbon molecules have a chemical formula of C n H 2n , where n is greater than or equal to 2 and n is less than or equal to 10.
18. The method of claim 15 , wherein the one or more organic radicals comprise a CH 3 radical.