SBIR Phase I: Atmospheric Pressure Molecular Layer CVD

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目旨在证明一种分子层薄膜沉积新方法的可行性。对于势垒层和薄电介质，原子层沉积（ALD）提供了无与伦比的薄膜厚度和一致性控制，但一直受到沉积速率低、薄膜污染和高成本的困扰。这些缺陷主要是由于在低压操作中使用的反应物浓度有限，再加上传统使用的复杂的泵/净化循环。常压操作与空间反应物分离相结合，可以实现连续处理架构，保证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，而不会出现不可接受的缓慢沉积周期。在这项工作中，该公司建议使用先前构建的原型反应器演示均匀TiN薄膜的沉积，以显示大气压方法的好处。AP-MLCVD优势的成功演示将为公司提供足够的信息来构建可行的α阶段商业工具，其中可以在与大规模集成电路制造相关的200毫米或300毫米晶圆上进行沉积测试。在商业上，这种全面的演示对于半导体制造行业的新工艺商业化是必不可少的。常压操作与基于空间分离的MLCVD工艺相结合，使得构建高通量沉积工具成为可能，同时成本低，因为不需要负载锁定或泵降操作，并且可以使用具有单个装卸站的简单圆形晶圆运输。APMLCVD将实现新一代沉积工艺，可控制制造复杂材料的超薄膜，如高k介电体和扩散势垒层。

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.