Inhibitor plasma mediated atomic layer deposition for seamless feature fill

1. A method for depositing film in a substrate processing system, comprising:

performing at least one atomic layer deposition (ALD) cycle in a processing chamber to deposit at least one layer of film in a feature of a substrate, wherein the feature includes a hole or a trench;

after the at least one ALD cycle, exposing at least a portion of an outer surface of the at least one layer of film in the feature to an inhibitor plasma in the processing chamber for a predetermined period to create a varying passivated surface in the feature, wherein the varying passivated surface inhibits subsequent film deposition in an increasing manner in the feature as a depth in the feature decreases; and

after the predetermined period, performing an additional ALD cycle in the processing chamber to deposit a layer of film on the substrate, wherein deposition of the layer of film during the additional ALD cycle is inhibited by the varying passivated surface.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, prior to performing the at least one ALD cycle, exposing the substrate to the inhibitor plasma in the processing chamber.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the at least one ALD cycle and the additional ALD cycle includes:

exposing the substrate to a first reactant during a first predetermined period;

evacuating reactants from the processing chamber after the first predetermined period;

exposing the substrate to a second reactant that is different than the first reactant during a second predetermined period; and

evacuating reactants from the processing chamber after the second predetermined period.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one layer of film includes silicon dioxide.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein exposing the substrate to the inhibitor plasma includes:

supplying an inhibitor gas;

striking the inhibitor plasma;

maintaining the inhibitor plasma for the predetermined period; and

after the predetermined period, turning the inhibitor plasma off.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the inhibitor plasma is created using molecular nitrogen as an inhibitor gas.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising exposing the substrate to the inhibitor plasma and performing a second plurality of ALD cycles after the additional ALD cycle to bottom-up fill the feature without a seam.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the inhibitor plasma is created using a gas selected from a group consisting of molecular nitrogen, molecular hydrogen, argon, helium, ammonia or combinations thereof.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the feature has an aspect ratio that is greater than 4:1 and an opening that is less than or equal to 30 nanometers.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the inhibitor plasma is generated using a first plasma source and the at least one ALD cycle is performed using the first plasma source.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the inhibitor plasma is generated using a first plasma source and the at least one ALD cycle is performed using a second plasma source that is different than the first plasma source.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the inhibitor plasma is generated using a first plasma source and the at least one ALD cycle and the additional ALD cycle are performed without using plasma.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the at least one ALD cycle comprises a plurality of ALD cycles;

the plurality of ALD cycles are performed within a period of time; and

inhibitor plasma is not used during the period of time.

14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising using a process that is different than the at least one ALD cycle and the additional ALD cycle to fill at least part of the feature with a material after performing the at least one ALD cycle and the additional ALD cycle.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein:

the at least one ALD cycle and the additional ALD cycle deposit dielectric film; and

the material includes another dielectric film that is different than the dielectric film.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the material includes metal.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the feature includes the trench; and

during the additional ALD cycle, film deposition over the varying passivated surface increases from a top of the trench to a bottom of the trench causing the feature to be filled from the bottom of the trench to the top of the trench.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the feature includes the hole.

19. The method of claim 1 , further comprising after the predetermined period, performing a plurality of ALD cycles in the processing chamber to deposit a plurality of layers of film in a gap of the feature such that, subsequent to the plurality of ALD cycles, the feature is filled and has no gap, wherein:

the outer surface is a top surface of the at least one layer of film;

the gap exists in the feature after the varying passivated surface is created; and

the plurality of ALD cycles includes the additional ALD cycle; and

the plurality of layers of film include the layer of film deposited during the additional ALD cycle.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the outer surface is a top surface of the at least one layer of film;

the exposing of the at least a portion of the top surface of the at least one layer of film to the inhibitor plasma includes treating the feature more at a first portion of the feature than at a second portion of the feature; and

during the additional ALD cycle, film deposition is inhibited more at the first portion than at the second portion.

21. The method of claim 20 , wherein, during the additional ALD cycle, the film deposition over the varying passivated surface includes depositing a decreasing amount of film from the second portion to the first portion causing the feature to be filled from the second portion to the first portion.

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein:

the first portion is a top portion of the hole or the trench; and

the second portion is a bottom portion of the hole or the trench.