Techniques and device structure based upon directional seeding and selective deposition
In one embodiment, a method of selectively forming a deposit may include providing a substrate, the substrate having a plurality of surface features, extending at a non-zero angle of inclination with respect to a perpendicular to a plane of the substrate. The method may include directing a reactive beam to the plurality of surface features, the reactive beam defining a non-zero angle of incidence with respect to a perpendicular to the plane of the substrate, wherein a seed layer is deposited on a first portion of the surface features, and is not deposited on a second portion of the surface features. The method may further include exposing the substrate to a reactive deposition process after the directing the reactive ion beam, wherein a deposit layer selectively grows over the seed layer.
1. A method of forming multi-level device contact, comprising:
providing a substrate, the substrate defining a plane of the substrate and having an array of spacer features, disposed over an array of active device features, arranged in a first level; and
directing a reactive beam to the array of spacer features, the reactive beam defining a non-zero angle of incidence with respect to a perpendicular to the plane of the substrate, wherein a seed layer is deposited on a first portion of the array of spacer features, and is not deposited on a second portion of the array of spacer features,
wherein the reactive beam comprises a metallic species, and wherein the seed layer forms an array of staggered contacts, having an S-shape.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the seed layer comprises a metallic material.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising exposing the substrate to a reactive deposition process after the directing the reactive beam, wherein an S-shaped deposit layer is formed on the seed layer, wherein the array of staggered contacts includes the seed layer and the S-shaped deposit layer.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the S-shaped deposit layer is formed by a chemical vapor deposition process or an atomic layer deposition process.
5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the seed layer and the S-shaped deposit layer comprise are a same material.
6. The method of claim 3 , wherein the reactive deposition process is a non-directional deposition process.
7. The method of claim 3 , wherein the substrate comprising a DRAM device, a NAND device, a 3D NAND device, a NOR device, an X point memory, or a logic device.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein a thickness of the seed layer is between 1 nm and 10 nm.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein an ion energy of the reactive beam is between 10 eV and 400 eV.
10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: heating the substrate to generate a substrate temperature between 100 C and 500 C during the directing the reactive beam.
11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: forming an array of device structures, disposed in a second level, wherein the array of staggered contacts electrically conductively connect the array of active device features with the array of device structures.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the non-zero angle of incidence is between 5 degrees and 85 degrees.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein a thickness of the seed layer is between 1 nm and 10 nm, wherein an ion energy of the reactive beam is between 10 eV and 400 eV, and wherein a substrate temperature is between 100 C and 1000 C during the directing the reactive ion beam.