Top surface roughness reduction of high-k dielectric materials using plasma based processes
A system and method for manufacturing semiconductor devices with dielectric layers having a dielectric constant greater than silicon dioxide includes depositing a dielectric layer on a substrate and subjecting the dielectric layer to a plasma to reduce top surface roughness in the dielectric layer.
1. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising:
depositing a dielectric layer on a substrate, the dielectric layer having a dielectric constant greater than the dielectric constant of silicon dioxide;
subjecting the dielectric layer to a plasma, the plasma operable to reduce top surface roughness in the dielectric layer; and
annealing the dielectric layer before subjecting the dielectric layer to the plasma.
2. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising:
depositing a dielectric layer on a substrate, the dielectric layer having a dielectric constant greater than the dielectric constant of silicon dioxide;
subjecting the dielectric layer to a plasma, the plasma operable to reduce top surface roughness in the dielectric layer; and
annealing the dielectric layer after subjecting the dielectric layer to the plasma.
3. The method of claim 1 , where the resulting high-k comprises hafnium silicon oxy-nitride.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the dielectric layer comprises hafnium silicon oxide.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the dielectric layer comprises hafnium oxide.
6. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising:
depositing a dielectric layer on a substrate, the dielectric layer having a dielectric constant greater than the dielectric constant of silicon dioxide;
subjecting the dielectric layer to a plasma, the plasma operable to reduce top surface roughness in the dielectric layer, wherein the dielectric layer comprises a hafnium aluminum oxide.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the dielectric layer comprises an oxide from the group of lanthanum oxide, gadolinium oxide, tantalum oxide, yittrium oxide, titanium oxide, chromium oxide, aluminum oxide, and zirconium oxide.
8. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising:
depositing a dielectric layer on a substrate, the dielectric layer having a dielectric constant greater than the dielectric constant of silicon dioxide;
subjecting the dielectric layer to a plasma, the plasma operable to reduce top surface roughness in the dielectric layer, wherein the dielectric layer comprises a ternary transition metal oxide from the group of ZrHfO, TaTiO, ZrTiO, HfNbO, HfVO, ZrVO, TaNbO, TaVO, TaNbO, HfTiO, and HfTaO.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the dielectric layer comprises a ternary oxide.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the dielectric layer has a dielectric constant greater than 3.9.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein depositing a dielectric layer on a substrate comprises chemical vapor deposition.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein depositing a dielectric layer on a substrate comprises atomic layer deposition.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein depositing a dielectric layer on a substrate comprises physical vapor deposition.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plasma is an argon plasma.
15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plasma is a xenon plasma.
16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plasma is a krypton plasma.
17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plasma is an oxygen plasma.
18. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising:
depositing a dielectric layer on a substrate, the dielectric layer having a dielectric constant greater than the dielectric constant of silicon dioxide;
subjecting the dielectric layer to a plasma, the plasma operable to reduce top surface roughness in the dielectric layer, wherein the plasma is a nitrogen plasma, the nitrogen plasma further operable to incorporate nitrogen into the dielectric layer.
19. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plasma is a helium plasma.
20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plasma is a combination of any plasmas from the group of plasmas including argon, xenon, krypton, oxygen, nitrogen, and helium.
21. The method of claim 1 , wherein annealing the dielectric layer further comprises using an inert plasma.
22. The method of claim 1 , wherein annealing the dielectric layer further comprises heating the dielectric layer to remove impurities.
23. The method of claim 2 , wherein annealing the dielectric layer further comprises subjecting the dielectric layer to a nitrogen plasma, the nitrogen plasma operable to incorporate nitrogen into the dielectric layer.
24. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plasma comprises a dual-frequency plasma.