Selective deposition using differential surface charging
A method includes extracting electrons from a remote electron source to negatively charge upper surfaces of a patterned layer with the electrons, and extracting positive ions from a remote ion source to selectively deposit a material on the upper surfaces by attracting the positive ions to the electrons of the upper surfaces. The upper surfaces may be negatively charged by concurrently applying a positive bias at the patterned layer and applying source power with a lower power level to generate plasma. The material may be selectively deposited by concurrently applying a negative bias at the patterned layer and applying source power with a higher power level to plasma. An extraction grid may separate the patterned layer from the plasma. The extraction grid may be electrically floating or coupled to a ground potential during either of the electron extraction step or the ion extraction step.
1 . A plasma system comprising:
a processing chamber;
a remote plasma chamber configured to contain plasma comprising electrons and positive ions;
an extraction grid separating the processing chamber and the remote plasma chamber;
a substrate support disposed in the processing chamber and configured to support a substrate comprising a patterned layer;
at least one gas source coupled to the remote plasma chamber and configured to provide an electron source gas and an ion source gas to the remote plasma chamber through one or more valves;
a source power supply configured to generate the plasma in the remote plasma chamber;
a direct current (DC) bias power supply electrically coupled to the substrate support; and
a controller operatively coupled to the one or more valves, the DC bias power supply, and the source power supply, the controller comprising a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a program including instructions that, when executed by the processor, perform a method comprising:
negatively charging upper surfaces of the patterned layer with the electrons by concurrently
applying source power from the source power supply to generate plasma comprising the electrons in the remote plasma chamber separated from the patterned layer, and
applying a positive DC bias from the DC bias power supply to the substrate support; and
selectively depositing a material on the upper surfaces with positive ions by concurrently
applying source power from the source power supply to generate plasma comprising the positive ions in the remote plasma chamber, and
applying a negative DC bias from the DC bias power supply to the substrate support.
2 . The plasma system of claim 1 ,
wherein negatively charging the upper surfaces further comprises concurrently applying a ground potential to the extraction grid while applying the source power and the positive DC bias, and
wherein selectively depositing the material further comprises concurrently applying the ground potential to the extraction grid while applying the source power and the negative DC bias.
3 . The plasma system of claim 1 , wherein the extraction grid is electrically floating while negatively charging the upper surfaces and while selectively depositing the material.
4 . The plasma system of claim 1 , wherein the electron source gas and the ion source gas are the same gas.
5 . The plasma system of claim 1 , further comprising:
an electrode disposed in the remote plasma chamber, wherein negatively charging the upper surfaces further comprises concurrently applying a negative DC superposition potential to the electrode as a continuous wave potential or a series or negative DC pulses.
6 . The plasma system of claim 1 , wherein selectively depositing the material further comprises applying a magnetic field to the plasma in the remote plasma chamber while applying the source power and the negative DC bias.
7 . The plasma system of claim 1 , wherein the electron source gas and the ion source gas are different gases.
8 . The plasma system of claim 7 , wherein the electron source gas is pure argon gas, and wherein the plasma comprising the electrons generated by applying the source power while negatively charging the upper surfaces is an electropositive plasma.
9 . The plasma system of claim 8 , wherein the ion source gas comprises carbon, and wherein the plasma comprising the positive ions generated by applying the source power while selectively depositing the material on the upper surfaces is a fluorocarbon plasma.
10 . The plasma system of claim 1 , wherein:
the source power is applied with a first power level to generate the plasma comprising the electrons while negatively charging the upper surfaces; and
the source power is applied at a second power level greater than the first power level to generate the plasma comprising the positive ions while selectively depositing the material on the upper surfaces.
11 . The plasma system of claim 10 , wherein applying the negative DC bias comprises pulsing the negative DC bias as a series of negative bias pulses.
12 . The plasma system of claim 11 , wherein each bias pulse of the series of negative bias pulses comprises a pulse width less than about 5 ns.
13 . The plasma system of claim 11 , wherein the series of negative bias pulses is a bipolar pulse train, the series of negative bias pulses comprising positive bias pulses separating adjacent negative bias pulses.
14 . The plasma system of claim 10 , wherein the magnitude of both the positive DC bias and the negative DC bias is less than about 50 V.
15 . The plasma system of claim 14 , wherein the negative DC bias is substantially the same as the plasma potential of the plasma comprising the positive ions generated while selectively depositing the material.
16 . The plasma system of claim 10 , wherein the first power level is less than 200 W, and wherein the second power level is greater than 200 W.
17 . A plasma system comprising:
a processing chamber;
a remote plasma chamber configured to contain plasma comprising electrons and positive ions;
an extraction grid separating the processing chamber and the remote plasma chamber;
a substrate support disposed in the processing chamber and configured to support a substrate comprising a patterned layer;
at least one gas source coupled to the remote plasma chamber and configured to provide an electron source gas and an ion source gas to the remote plasma chamber through one or more valves;
a source power supply configured to generate the plasma in the remote plasma chamber;
a direct current (DC) bias power supply electrically coupled to the substrate support; and
a controller operatively coupled to the one or more valves, the DC bias power supply, and the source power supply, the controller comprising a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a program including instructions that, when executed by the processor, perform a method comprising:
negatively charging upper surfaces of the patterned layer with the electrons by concurrently
applying source power from the source power supply with a first power level to generate plasma comprising the electrons in the remote plasma chamber separated from the patterned layer,
applying a positive DC bias from the DC bias power supply to the substrate support, and
applying a ground potential to the extraction grid while applying the source power and the positive DC bias; and
selectively depositing a material on the upper surfaces with positive ions by concurrently
applying source power from the source power supply with a second power level greater than the first power level to generate plasma comprising the positive ions in the remote plasma chamber,
applying a negative DC bias from the DC bias power supply to the substrate support, and
applying the ground potential to the extraction grid while applying the source power and the negative DC bias.
18 . The plasma system of claim 17 , wherein:
the electron source gas and the ion source gas are different gases;
the electron source gas is pure argon gas; and
the plasma comprising the electrons generated by applying the source power while negatively charging the upper surfaces is an electropositive plasma.
19 . A plasma system comprising:
a processing chamber;
a remote plasma chamber configured to contain plasma comprising electrons and positive ions;
an extraction grid separating the processing chamber and the remote plasma chamber;
a substrate support disposed in the processing chamber and configured to support a substrate comprising a patterned layer;
at least one gas source coupled to the remote plasma chamber and configured to provide an electron source gas and an ion source gas to the remote plasma chamber through one or more valves;
a source power supply configured to generate the plasma in the remote plasma chamber;
a direct current (DC) bias power supply electrically coupled to the substrate support; and
a controller operatively coupled to the one or more valves, the DC bias power supply, and the source power supply, the controller comprising a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a program including instructions that, when executed by the processor, perform a method comprising:
negatively charging upper surfaces of the patterned layer with the electrons by concurrently
applying source power from the source power supply to generate plasma comprising the electrons in the remote plasma chamber separated from the patterned layer, and
applying a positive DC bias from the DC bias power supply to the substrate support to attract the electrons that pass through the extraction grid to the upper surfaces; and
selectively depositing a material on the upper surfaces with positive ions by concurrently
applying source power from the source power supply to generate plasma comprising the positive ions in the remote plasma chamber, and
applying a negative DC bias from the DC bias power supply to the substrate support.
20 . The plasma system of claim 19 , wherein:
the electron source gas and the ion source gas are different gases;
the electron source gas is pure argon gas; and
the plasma comprising the electrons generated by applying the source power while negatively charging the upper surfaces is an electropositive plasma.