Atomic Layer Nucleation Engineering: Inhibitor-Free Area-Selective Atomic Layer Deposition of Oxide and Nitride
Journal
Chemistry of Materials
Journal Volume
33
Journal Issue
14
Pages
5584-5590
Date Issued
2021
Author(s)
Chou C.-Y
Lee W.-H
Chuu C.-P
Chen T.-A
Hou C.-H
Yin Y.-T
Wang T.-Y
Shyue J.-J
Li L.-J
Chen M.-J.
Abstract
Area-selective atomic layer deposition (AS-ALD) has attracted attention due to the process demand for semiconductor device scaling. Here, we propose the "atomic layer nucleation engineering (ALNE)"technique, an inhibitor-free AS-ALD of an oxide (Al2O3) and a nitride (AlN) with nearly 100% selectivity between the dielectric (SiO2) and the metal (Pt). The key is to add a radio-frequency substrate bias after precursor exposure and purge in each ALD cycle, where the energy from the ignited plasma selectively removes the precursors on the metal owing to the relatively lower binding energy compared to those on the dielectric, thereby inhibiting the film growth on the metal. This critical step enables the AS-ALD without selectivity loss up to 100 ALD cycles, leading to significant thickness differences of ?14.9 and ?8.7 nm for Al2O3 and AlN between the dielectric and metal surfaces. The realization of AS-ALD of Al2O3 and AlN by ALNE is also confirmed on the Pt/SiO2 patterned substrate. The ALNE offers a novel concept and approach to achieve high-selectivity AS-ALD, which is critical to further extension of Moore's law. ? 2021 American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.
Subjects
Alumina
Aluminum nitride
Aluminum oxide
Atoms
Binding energy
Crystallization
Film growth
III-V semiconductors
Metals
Nitrides
Nucleation
Platinum compounds
Semiconductor devices
Silica
Silicon
Substrates
Wide band gap semiconductors
Area selective
Critical steps
High selectivity
Metal surfaces
Novel concept
Patterned substrates
Radio frequencies
Substrate bias
Atomic layer deposition
Type
journal article