SBIR Phase I: Atmospheric Pressure Molecular Layer CVD

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目提出了一种新的方法来证明分子层薄膜沉积的可行性。用于阻挡层和薄电介质的原子层沉积（ALD）提供了对薄膜厚度和保形性的出色控制，但一直受到沉积速率低、薄膜污染和成本高的困扰。这些缺陷中的许多是由于在低压操作中使用的有限的反应物浓度，以及传统上使用的复杂的泵/净化循环。大气压操作，结合spatialreactant分离，可以实现连续处理架构，承诺更高的吞吐量和更低的成本，高反应物浓度确保饱和单层生长和低污染物浓度，而不会令人无法接受的缓慢沉积周期。在这项工作中，该公司提出使用先前建造的原型反应器来演示TiN均匀薄膜的沉积，以显示大气压方法的好处。成功演示AP-MLCVD的好处将为该公司提供足够的信息，以构建一个可行的α阶段商业工具，其中200毫米或300毫米晶圆上的沉积测试相关的大规模集成电路制造可以执行。在商业上，这种全尺寸的演示对于半导体制造业中新工艺的商业化是不可或缺的。大气压操作与基于空间分离的MLCVD工艺相结合，使得有可能构建高产量沉积工具，该沉积工具同时成本低，因为不需要装载锁或抽气操作，并且可以使用具有单个装载-卸载站的简单圆形晶片运输。APMLCVD将使新一代的沉积工艺能够可控地制造复杂材料的超薄膜，如高k值薄膜和扩散阻挡层。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project proposes to demonstrate the feasibility of a novel approach to molecular-layer film deposition. Atomic LayerDeposition (ALD) for barrier layers and thin dielectrics provides unexcelled control offilm thickness and conformality, but has been plagued by low deposition rates, filmcontamination, and high cost. Many of these deficiencies are due to the limited reactantconcentrations used in low-pressure operation, combined with the complex pump / purgecycles conventionally employed. Atmospheric-pressure operation, combined with spatialreactant separation, can enable a continuous-processing architecture that promises muchhigher throughput and lower cost, and high reactant concentrations ensure saturatedmonolayer growth and low contaminant concentrations without unacceptably slow deposition cycles. In this work the company proposes to demonstrate deposition of uniform films of TiN to show the benefits of the atmospheric pressure approach, using a prototype reactor previously constructed. Successful demonstration of the benefits of AP-MLCVD will provide the company with sufficient information to construct a viable alpha-stage commercial tool, in which deposition testing on 200-mm or 300-mm wafers relevant to large-scale integrated circuit fabrication can be performed. Commercially, such full-scale demonstrations are indispensable for commercialization of new processes in the semiconductor manufacturing industry. Atmospheric-pressure operation, combined with spatial-separation-based MLCVD process, makes it possible to construct a high-throughput deposition tool that is simultaneously low in cost, as no load locks or pump down operations are required, and simple circular wafer transport with a single load-unload station can be used. APMLCVD will enable a new generation of deposition processes for controllable fabrication of ultra-thin films of complex materials, such as high-k dielectrics and diffusion barrier layers.