Deposition of low-stress boron-containing layers
Examples of the present technology include semiconductor processing methods to form boron-containing materials on substrates. Exemplary processing methods may include delivering a deposition precursor that includes a boron-containing precursor to a processing region of a semiconductor processing chamber. A plasma may be formed from the deposition precursor within the processing region of the semiconductor processing chamber. The methods may further include depositing a boron-containing material on a substrate disposed within the processing region of the semiconductor processing chamber, where the substrate is characterized by a temperature of less than or about 50° C. The as-deposited boron-containing material may be characterized by a surface roughness of less than or about 2 nm, and a stress level of less-than or about −500 MPa. In some embodiments, a layer of the boron-containing material may function as a hardmask.
1. A semiconductor processing method comprising:
delivering a deposition precursor comprising a boron-containing precursor to a processing region of a semiconductor processing chamber;
forming a plasma of the deposition precursor within the processing region of the semiconductor processing chamber; and
depositing a boron-containing material on a substrate disposed within the processing region of the semiconductor processing chamber, wherein the substrate is characterized by a temperature of less than or about 50° C., and wherein the semiconductor processing chamber is characterized by a pressure of less than 100 mTorr.
2. The semiconductor processing method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises delivering an inert precursor to the processing region of the semiconductor processing chamber, wherein a flow rate ratio of the inert precursor to the deposition precursor is greater than about 10:1.
3. The semiconductor processing method of claim 2 , wherein the inert precursor comprises at least one of helium or argon.
4. The semiconductor processing method of claim 1 , wherein the semiconductor processing chamber is characterized by a pressure of less than or about 50 mTorr.
5. The semiconductor processing method of claim 1 , wherein the deposition precursor further comprises a boron-containing precursor.
6. The semiconductor processing method of claim 1 , wherein the deposition precursor further comprises at least one of a silicon-containing precursor or a nitrogen-containing precursor.
7. The semiconductor processing method of claim 1 , wherein the boron-containing material comprises at least one of boron carbide, boron-nitride, boron-carbon-nitride, boron-containing silicon, boron-containing silicon oxide, boron-and-boron-containing silicon oxide, or boron-containing silicon nitride.
8. The semiconductor processing method of claim 1 , wherein the plasma is a bias plasma formed at a bias power is greater than 2000 Watts.
9. A semiconductor processing method comprising:
delivering a deposition precursor comprising a boron-containing precursor to a processing region of a semiconductor processing chamber;
applying a bias power to a substrate disposed within the processing region of the semiconductor processing chamber, wherein the bias power is greater than or about 3000 Watts;
forming a plasma of the deposition precursor within the processing region of the semiconductor processing chamber; and
depositing a boron-containing material on the substrate.
10. The semiconductor processing method of claim 9 , wherein the substrate is characterized by a temperature of less than or about 50° C.
11. The semiconductor processing method of claim 9 , wherein the deposition precursor further comprises an inert precursor.
12. The semiconductor processing method of claim 11 , wherein a flow rate ratio of the inert precursor to the boron-containing precursor is greater than or about 10:1.
13. The semiconductor processing method of claim 9 , wherein the bias power is greater than or about 4000 Watts.
14. A semiconductor processing method comprising:
delivering a boron-containing precursor to a processing region of a semiconductor processing chamber;
forming a plasma of the boron-containing precursor within the processing region of the semiconductor processing chamber;
applying a bias power to a substrate disposed within the processing region of the semiconductor processing chamber, wherein the bias power is greater than 2000 Watts; and
depositing a boron-containing material on a substrate disposed within the processing region of the semiconductor processing chamber, wherein the boron-containing material is characterized by an as-deposited surface roughness of less than or about 2 nm.
15. The semiconductor processing method of claim 14 , wherein the substrate is characterized by a temperature of less than or about 50° C.
16. The semiconductor processing method of claim 14 , wherein the semiconductor processing method further comprises:
delivering an inert precursor to the processing region of the semiconductor processing chamber, wherein a flow rate ratio of the inert precursor to the boron-containing precursor is greater than about 10:1,
wherein the bias power is greater than or about 3000 Watts.
17. The semiconductor processing method of claim 14 , wherein the boron-containing material is characterized by an as-deposited stress that is less than or about −500 MPa.
18. The semiconductor processing method of claim 14 , wherein the boron-containing material further comprises carbon atoms, and wherein greater than or about 60% of the carbon atoms have sp a hybridized bonds.
19. The semiconductor processing method of claim 14 , wherein the boron-containing material comprises less than or about 25 mol % hydrogen.
20. The semiconductor processing method of claim 14 , wherein the boron-containing material comprises at least one of boron carbide, boron-nitride, boron-carbon-nitride, boron-containing silicon, boron-containing silicon oxide, boron-and-boron-containing silicon oxide, or boron-containing silicon nitride.