In-situ tungsten deposition without barrier layer
In-situ methods for depositing a metal film without the use of a barrier layer are disclosed. Some embodiments comprise forming an amorphous nucleation layer comprising one or more of silicon or boron and forming a metal layer on the nucleation layer. These processes are performed without an air break between processes.
1. A processing method comprising:
exposing a substrate surface to a boron precursor to form an amorphous boron layer, the substrate surface being substantially free of a barrier layer;
exposing the amorphous boron layer to a first metal precursor to convert the amorphous boron layer to a first metal layer; and
forming a second metal layer on the first metal layer by exposing the first metal layer to a second metal precursor,
wherein the processing method is performed without exposing the substrate surface to an air break.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method provides a first metal layer with improved resistivity, continuity, or adhesion relative to a similar processing method comprising exposing the substrate surface to air break.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method provides a second metal layer with improved resistivity, stress, thickness uniformity and/or resistance uniformity.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first metal precursor and the second metal precursor independently comprise one or more of WF 6 , WCl 6 , W(CO) 5 , MoF 6 , MoCl 5 , or Mo(CO) 6 .
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first metal precursor consists essentially of W(CO) 5 .
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first metal precursor comprises substantially no fluorine.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first metal precursor and the second metal precursor comprise the same metal.
8. A processing method comprising:
exposing a substrate surface to a silicon precursor to form an amorphous silicon layer, the substrate surface being substantially free of a barrier layer;
exposing the amorphous silicon layer to a first metal precursor to convert the amorphous silicon layer to a first metal layer; and
forming a second metal layer on the first metal layer by exposing the first metal layer to a second metal precursor,
wherein the processing method is performed without exposing the substrate surface to an air break.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the method provides a first metal layer with improved resistivity, continuity, or adhesion relative to a similar processing method comprising exposing the substrate surface to air break.
10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the method provides a second metal layer with improved resistivity, stress, thickness uniformity and/or resistance uniformity.
11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the silicon precursor comprises one or more species with a general formula of Si g H h X i , where each X is a halogen independently selected from F, Cl, Br and I, g is any integer greater than or equal to 1, h and i are each less than or equal to 2 g+2 and h+i is equal to 2 g+2.
12. The method of claim 8 , wherein the first metal precursor and the second metal precursor independently comprise one or more of WF 6 , WCl 6 , W(CO) 5 , MoF 6 , MoCl 5 , or Mo(CO) 6 .
13. The method of claim 8 , wherein the first metal precursor consists essentially of W(CO) 5 .
14. The method of claim 8 , wherein the first metal precursor comprises substantially no fluorine.
15. The method of claim 8 , wherein the first metal precursor and the second metal precursor comprise the same metal.
16. A processing method comprising:
exposing a substrate surface to a silicon precursor and a boron precursor to form an amorphous layer comprising silicon and boron, the substrate surface being substantially free of a barrier layer;
exposing the amorphous layer to a first metal precursor to convert the amorphous layer to a first metal layer; and
forming a second metal layer on the first metal layer by exposing the first metal layer to a second metal precursor,
wherein the processing method is performed without exposing the substrate surface to an air break.
17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the method provides a first metal layer with improved resistivity, continuity, or adhesion relative to a similar processing method comprising exposing the substrate surface to air break.
18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the method provides a second metal layer with improved resistivity, stress, thickness uniformity and/or resistance uniformity.
19. The method of claim 16 , wherein the amorphous layer comprises no more than 5 atomic percent silicon or no more than 5 atomic percent boron.
20. The method of claim 16 , wherein the first metal precursor and the second metal precursor independently comprise one or more of WF 6 , WCl 6 , W(CO) 5 , MoF 6 , MoCl 5 , or Mo(CO) 6 .