Development of atomic layer deposition precursors

在过去的十年里，计算机的处理能力、处理速度和内存需求都有了显著的提高。这是由于能够构建更小、更高质量的微电子设备。为了保持微电子性能的这种改进，器件必须在保持或提高器件质量的同时继续减小尺寸。薄膜沉积技术大大提高了对器件制造的控制，从而大大提高了器件质量。在微电子器件制造中，沉积非常薄、非常均匀和高度可复制的薄膜的能力是必不可少的。目前微芯片制造中使用的主要技术之一是化学气相沉积（CVD），其中允许前体化合物的蒸汽在衬底表面热反应以沉积目标材料，同时释放挥发性，非反应性副产物。这种方法有几个优点，最重要的是在复杂的几何形状上沉积均匀的薄膜。这种技术的主要缺点是在生长的薄膜中包含杂质，以及薄膜厚度的控制，特别是纳米级的厚度。原子层沉积（ALD）是CVD的一项创新，其中初始前驱体不会在衬底上热分解。ALD的主要优点是能够一次生长一个原子层。这项技术目前正被集成到微电子生产中，用于在微电子晶体管中形成极薄（厚度约为4个原子）的氧化膜。虽然控制薄膜的厚度是至关重要的，但控制沉积面积将允许形成可定义的纳米级特征。本研究计划设计沉积前驱体，选择性沉积特定的靶膜。控制各种目标薄膜的纳米级厚度的能力将为纳米技术、光子学和微电子等关键研究和开发部门提供一种多功能和强大的方法。这一领域的研究将培养必要的高素质人才，将ALD技术整合到加拿大的研究和工业中

Computer processing power, processing speed, and memory requirements have increased dramatically in the last ten years. This is due to the ability to construct smaller and higher quality microelectronic devices. In order to maintain this improvement in microelectronics performance, devices must continue to decrease in size while maintaining or improving the quality of the devices. Control over device creation and thus device quality has been greatly enhanced by thin film deposition techniques. The ability to deposit very thin, extremely uniform, and highly reproducible films is a necessity in microelectronic device fabrication. One of the main techniques used in microchip manufacturing today is chemical vapour deposition (CVD), where a vapour of a precursor compound is allowed to thermally react at a substrate surface to deposit a target material while releasing volatile, non-reactive side products. This method has several advantages, the foremost being the deposition of uniform films on complex geometries. The major drawbacks of this technique are inclusion of impurities in the growing film, and control of film thickness, particularly for nanoscale thicknesses. Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is an innovation of CVD where the initial precursor does not thermally decompose on the substrate. The principal benefit of ALD is the ability to grow films one atom layer at a time. This technique is presently being integrated into microelectronics production to form very thin (~4 atoms in thickness) oxide films in microelectronic transistors. Although control of the thickness of a film is of paramount importance, control of the area of deposition will allow definable, nanoscale features to be formed. This research project proposes to design deposition precursors that will selectively deposit specific target films. The ability to control nanoscale thicknesses of a variety of target films will provide a versatile and powerful method to enable key research and development sectors such as nanotechnology, photonics and microelectronics. Research in this area will develop the necessary highly qualified personnel to integrate ALD technology into Canadian research and industry