Granted Patent B2

US 12,315,734 · App. 17/829,518 · Granted May 27, 2025

Inventors: Li-Han Lin (Taoyuan, TW); Jr-Chiuan Wang (New Taipei, TW); Szu-Yu Hou (New Taipei, TW)

Assignee: NANYA TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION

H01L21/31111H01L21/31144H01L21/76825H01L21/76831H01L21/76832H01L21/76816H10B12/482H10B12/485

Abstract

Claims (27)

1. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor structure, comprising:

forming a first insulating layer over a substrate;

forming a second insulating layer having an opening over the first insulating layer;

forming a conductive line structure in the opening of the second insulating layer, thereby forming a contact void between the second insulating layer and the conductive line structure;

conformally forming a plasma oxide layer over the conductive line structure, the second insulating layer, and the contact void;

forming a nitride capping layer over the plasma oxide layer, the nitride capping layer filling the contact void;

introducing nitrogen ions into a surface of the nitride capping layer surrounding the conductive line structure; and

performing an etching back process to remove a portion of the nitride capping layer, thereby forming a refilled contact void between the second insulating layer and the conductive line structure.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nitrogen ions are introduced into the surface of the nitride capping layer in a uniform concentration profile.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nitrogen ions are introduced into the surface of the nitride capping layer in a non-uniform concentration profile.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein introducing nitrogen ions into the surface of the nitride capping layer is performed by an ion implantation process.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein introducing nitrogen ions into the surface of the nitride capping layer comprises:

forming a patterned mask layer over the nitride capping layer, the patterned mask layer having a hole corresponding to the contact void;

doping nitrogen ions into the surface of the nitride capping layer through the hole of the patterned mask layer; and

removing the patterned mask layer.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first insulating layer has a conductive contact underneath the opening in the second insulating layer.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein forming the second insulating layer having an opening comprises:

forming a second insulating layer over the first insulating layer; and

forming an opening in the second insulating layer to expose a top surface of the conductive contact in the first insulating layer, wherein a width of the opening is greater than a width of the top surface of the conductive contact.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein a top surface of the conductive contact is fully exposed by the opening in the second insulating layer.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein a top surface of the conductive contact is partially exposed by the contact void.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the contact void surrounds the conductive line structure.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein prior to forming the plasma oxide layer, the method further comprises conformally forming a nitride spacer layer over the conductive line structure, the second insulating layer, and the contact void.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the plasma oxide layer is conformally disposed on the nitride spacer layer.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the etching back process is performed by using a wet etchant comprising phosphorus acid.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the etching back process is performed by using the plasma oxide layer as an etch stop layer.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein a top surface of the refilled contact void is a flat surface.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (16)