GB2168340A - Forming glass layers on semiconductor substrates - Google Patents

Forming glass layers on semiconductor substrates Download PDF

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Publication number
GB2168340A
GB2168340A GB08529383A GB8529383A GB2168340A GB 2168340 A GB2168340 A GB 2168340A GB 08529383 A GB08529383 A GB 08529383A GB 8529383 A GB8529383 A GB 8529383A GB 2168340 A GB2168340 A GB 2168340A
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United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
glass
atmosphere
integrated circuit
contact holes
pulse heating
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Granted
Application number
GB08529383A
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GB8529383D0 (en
GB2168340B (en
Inventor
Peter Denis Scovell
Stephen Robert Jennings
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STC PLC
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STC PLC
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Publication date
Priority claimed from GB848431525A external-priority patent/GB8431525D0/en
Application filed by STC PLC filed Critical STC PLC
Priority to GB08529383A priority Critical patent/GB2168340B/en
Publication of GB8529383D0 publication Critical patent/GB8529383D0/en
Publication of GB2168340A publication Critical patent/GB2168340A/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of GB2168340B publication Critical patent/GB2168340B/en
Expired legal-status Critical Current

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    • CCHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C23COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; CHEMICAL SURFACE TREATMENT; DIFFUSION TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL; INHIBITING CORROSION OF METALLIC MATERIAL OR INCRUSTATION IN GENERAL
    • C23DENAMELLING OF, OR APPLYING A VITREOUS LAYER TO, METALS
    • C23D13/00After-treatment of the enamelled articles
    • C23D13/02Removing defects by local re-melting of the enamel; Adjusting the shape
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H01ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01LSEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/02Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/04Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof the devices having potential barriers, e.g. a PN junction, depletion layer or carrier concentration layer
    • H01L21/18Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof the devices having potential barriers, e.g. a PN junction, depletion layer or carrier concentration layer the devices having semiconductor bodies comprising elements of Group IV of the Periodic Table or AIIIBV compounds with or without impurities, e.g. doping materials
    • H01L21/30Treatment of semiconductor bodies using processes or apparatus not provided for in groups H01L21/20 - H01L21/26
    • H01L21/31Treatment of semiconductor bodies using processes or apparatus not provided for in groups H01L21/20 - H01L21/26 to form insulating layers thereon, e.g. for masking or by using photolithographic techniques; After treatment of these layers; Selection of materials for these layers
    • H01L21/3105After-treatment

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Metallurgy (AREA)
  • Organic Chemistry (AREA)
  • Materials Engineering (AREA)
  • Condensed Matter Physics & Semiconductors (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
  • Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
  • Microelectronics & Electronic Packaging (AREA)
  • Power Engineering (AREA)
  • Internal Circuitry In Semiconductor Integrated Circuit Devices (AREA)
  • Formation Of Insulating Films (AREA)

Abstract

A glass coating on a substrate, e.g. an integrated circuit is planarised, by pulse heating the substrate provided with the glass to a temperature at which the glass becomes fluid. The glass viscosity is determined by control of an atmosphere in which heating is effected. Typically this atmosphere includes oxygen or water or is inert. The process is carried out under atmospheric pressure.

Description

SPECIFICATION Forming glass layers on semiconductor substrates This invention relates to a method of reflowing a glass insulating layer on a semiconductor surface.
With decreasing device geometries the problems associated with surface topography of an integrated circuit are becoming increasingly difficult to overcome. In particular there is a need to planarise the circuit surface prior to the application of the metallisation to avoid the risk of incomplete step coverage.
This problem is becoming particularly acute with the present trend towards a very high density of integration. Planarising surface coatings have been employed but, as device geometries become smaller, it has become difficult to provide adequately profiled contact openings. To avoid a sharp step around such openings, etches have been employed which form a tapered profile at the periphery of each opening.
However, unless etching is very carefully controlled, there is considerable risk of 'overbiowing' of the contact opening.
Attempts have been made to overcome this problem by the provision of a surface glass layer that is etched to provide contact openings and is then flowed across the device by heating to a temperature at which the glass becomes fluid thus profiling the edges of the contact openings. Typically a 30 minutes bake at 10000C is required for this purpose.
However this treatment then has an adverse effect on the device as a result of dopant redistribution.
Again this problem is accentuated by the small device dimensions involved. The problem of dopant redistribution has been overcome by pulse heating techniques. In a typical prior art process, such as that described in UK specification No. 2126418 A, a semiconductor circuit is coated with a phosphate glass and is then pulse heated in a vacuum for a period, typically 8 to 15 sec, sufficient to cause softening and flow of the glass. Whilst this technique is suitable for single planarising coatings it cannot readily be applied to structures using a plurality of metallisation levels. During the vacuum heating process phosphorus pentoxide is lost from the glass by evaporation. This significantly raises the softening point of the glass. Any subsequent reflow then requires a substantially higher processing temperature which may damage either the circuit or a deposited metallisation layer.It will also be appreciated that vacuum techniques are not readily compatible with processes requiring a high throughput rate.
The object of the present invention is to minimise or to overcome this disadvantage.
According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a method of flowing a glass across a substrate to provide a substantially smooth surface, the method including pulse heating the glass coated substrate in an inert or oxidising atmosphere at atmospheric pressure to a temperature above the softening point of the glass.
According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a method of contacting an integrated circuit with a metallisation pattern, the method including providing a first glass layer on the circuit, pulse heating the structure in an oxidising atmosphere to a temperature above the softening point of the glass whereby the glass is reflowed to planarise the surface, etching contact holes through the glass to expose contact regions on the substrate, pulse heating the structure in an inert atmosphere to a temperature above the softening point of the glass thereby rounding the edges of the contact holes, and applying a metallisation pattern to contact the circuit via the contact holes.
The pulse heating process is performed at ambient pressure in a controlled atmosphere which may be active or inert. We have found for example that the inclusion of oxygen or water in the atmosphere provides increased flow of the glass and hence increased planarisation for the same anneal time and temperature. Thus, priortothe contact hole etch, an oxygen or steam containing atmosphere can be used for transient reflow. By using two reflows it is possible to planarise the surface topography and round the contact hole edges thereby improving step coverage and yield. The degree of reflow is determined by control of the atmosphere in which the reflow is performed. Thus, for a given peak temperature, reflow is enhanced by the use of an oxidising atmosphere, e.g. oxygen or steam.We have found that oxygen reduces the softening temperature by 25 , and steam reduces the temperature by 500.
Embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figures 1 to 4 illustrate successive stages in the fabrication of an integrated circuit; Figures 5 and 6 illustrate the effects of conventional heat treatment and thermal pulse heating on dopant redistribution.
and Figures 7 and 8 illustrate the effect of reflow on contact hole sidewall angle and step planarisation respectively.
Referring to Figure 1 to 3, the circuit is formed on e.g. a silicon substrate 11 (Figure 1) and may comprise a plurality of transistors having doped drain and source regions, 12 and 13 respectively, separated by a gate region. The gate comprises an insulator film 14 and a polysilicon electrode 15. The transistor is surrounded by a wall 16 of oxide. The device is provided with a surface layer 21 (Figure 2) of a glass, typically by a chemical vapour deposition process. For this purpose we prefer to employ an 8% phosphosilicate glass deposited from a gaseous mixture of silane, phosphine and oxygen. This glass is a silica glass containing 8 weight % of phosphorus. Typically this glass layer 21 is about 8000 A (0.8 microns) in thickness. The glass as deposited follows the contours of the substrate surface.To provide a smooth surface for subsequent processing the glass 21 is subjected to a first reflow by pulse heating the structure in an atmosphere comprising e.g. oxygen, steam or mixtures thereof to a peak temperature of 1050 to 1075"C, typically for a period of 10 to 30 seconds. The assembly is then cooled and provided with a mask 31 (Figure 3) having openings 32 defining the positions of the device contacts. Contact openings 33 in the glass 21 are formed by plasma etching through the mask 31. For this purpose we prefer to employ a mixture of oxygen and a fluorine containing vapour. Typically we employ oxygen and a a mixture of CHF3 and C2F6. The contact holes 33 etched through the glass layer 21 expose the source, drain and gate of the transistor.
After contact hole etching the glass surface is smoothed and the contact hole edges rounded by a second reflow of the glass 21. This is effected by pulse heating the device to a temperature of about 11 00 C, i.e. about 1 000C to 1 500C above the glass softening point, for 10 to 20 seconds in an inert atmosphere, typically comprising nitrogen. The two reflows have been found to provide adequate surface smoothing without effecting significant dopant redistribution. For each reflow heating may be effected by irradiation from an infra-red halogen lamp.
After the second reflow of the glass has been effected metallisation 41 (Figure 4) is applied to contact the drain, source and gate. Typically the metallisation comprises aluminium or an aluminium alloy.
Although we prefer to employ a phosphosilicate glass the technique is not so limited. For example, borophosphosilicate, phosphogermanosilicate and arsenosilicate glasses may also be used.
The advantage of pulse heating over conventional furnace processing is illustrated in Figures 5 and 6 which show computer simulations of dopant redistribution for those two techniques. The two figures model the distribution of an arsenic dopant in a surface oxide and in the underlying silicon. As can be seen from Figure 6 the redistribution of arsenic resulting from the pulse heating process is insignificant.
To illustrate the technique described herein, an 8% phosphosilicate glass was deposited over nonplanar topography to investigate the planarisation of the glass as a function of anneal conditions. Contact holes were cut into the glass using an anisotropic etch and reflowed. The effect of the temperature and duration of anneal on the contact hole profile was studied by scanning electron microscopy. A similar series of experiments has been conducted on 4%/4% borophosphosilicate glass. This glass contained 4 weight % phosphorus and 4 weight % boron. The resuls of these tests are summarised in Figures 7 and 8.
Contact chains have been produced using transiently reflowed phosphosilicate glass and borophosphosilicate glass. Metal step coverage and contact resistance were investigated and compared to traditional reflow schedules. Both n and p+ diodes with xi 3000 A were fabricated to investigate the effect of the transient anneal on junction characteristics. After a total anneal time of 45 seconds at 11 000C the junction leakage is typically less than 10 nAcm-2 for both types of junction. The transient reflow has the additional benefit of fully activating all dopants. Sheet resistivities typically of 40 ohms per square have been obtained for both n+ arsenic junctions and p+ boron junctions.
These results indicate the compatibility of a transient reflow with a 2 micron CMOS technology.
As the pulse heating technique is transient, shallow junctions are substantially unaffected and improved device performance is thus obtained. Also the technique has the advantage of activating the doped layers in an advanced VLSI structure. Thus a single anneal can be used both to activate implanted species and to reflow the contact holes.

Claims (11)

1. A method of flowing a glass across a substrate to provide a substantially smooth surface, the method including pulse heating the glass coated substrate in an inert or oxidising atmosphere at atmospheric pressure to a temperature above the softening point of the glass.
2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said atmosphere includes oxygen or steam.
3. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said atmosphere comprises nitrogen.
4. A method as claimed in claim 1,2 or 3, wherein said glass is a phosphosilicate, borophosphosilicate, phosphorogermanosilicate or arsenosilicate glass.
5. A method of contacting an integrated circuit with a metallisation pattern, the method including providing a first glass layer on the circuit, pulse heating the structure in an oxidising atmosphere to a temperature above the softening point of the glass whereby the glass is reflowed to planarise the surface, etching contact holes through the glass to expose contact regions on the substrate, pulse heating the structure in an inert atmosphere to a temperature above the softening point of the glass thereby rounding the edges of the contact holes, and applying a metallisation pattern to contact the circuit via the contact holes.
6. A method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the oxidising atmosphere comprises oxygen, steam or mixtures thereof.
7. A method as claimed in claim 5 or 6, wherein the inert atmosphere comprises nitrogen.
8. A method as claimed in claim 5, 6 or 7, wherein the contact holes are plasma etched with a mixture of oxygen and a fluorine containing vapour.
9. A method of contacting an integrated circuit substantially as described herein with reference to and as shown in Figures 1 to 4 of the accompanying drawings.
10. An integrated circuit provided with a glass surface coating by a method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4.
11. An integrated circuit contacted by a method as claimed in any one of claims 5 to 9.
GB08529383A 1984-12-13 1985-11-29 Contacting an integrated circuit with a metallisation pattern Expired GB2168340B (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB08529383A GB2168340B (en) 1984-12-13 1985-11-29 Contacting an integrated circuit with a metallisation pattern

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB848431525A GB8431525D0 (en) 1984-12-13 1984-12-13 Forming glass layers
GB08529383A GB2168340B (en) 1984-12-13 1985-11-29 Contacting an integrated circuit with a metallisation pattern

Publications (3)

Publication Number Publication Date
GB8529383D0 GB8529383D0 (en) 1986-01-08
GB2168340A true GB2168340A (en) 1986-06-18
GB2168340B GB2168340B (en) 1988-11-02

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Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2001018848A2 (en) * 1999-09-07 2001-03-15 Steag Rtp Systems, Inc. Pre-metal dielectric rapid thermal processing for sub-micron technology
WO2003029159A1 (en) 2001-10-03 2003-04-10 Qinetiq Limited Coated optical components

Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2097582A (en) * 1981-04-28 1982-11-03 Rca Corp Process for tapering openings in glass coatings in semiconductor devices

Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2097582A (en) * 1981-04-28 1982-11-03 Rca Corp Process for tapering openings in glass coatings in semiconductor devices

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2001018848A2 (en) * 1999-09-07 2001-03-15 Steag Rtp Systems, Inc. Pre-metal dielectric rapid thermal processing for sub-micron technology
WO2001018848A3 (en) * 1999-09-07 2001-05-17 Steag Rtp Systems Inc Pre-metal dielectric rapid thermal processing for sub-micron technology
US6514876B1 (en) 1999-09-07 2003-02-04 Steag Rtp Systems, Inc. Pre-metal dielectric rapid thermal processing for sub-micron technology
WO2003029159A1 (en) 2001-10-03 2003-04-10 Qinetiq Limited Coated optical components

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Publication number Publication date
GB8529383D0 (en) 1986-01-08
GB2168340B (en) 1988-11-02

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Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
732E Amendments to the register in respect of changes of name or changes affecting rights (sect. 32/1977)
732E Amendments to the register in respect of changes of name or changes affecting rights (sect. 32/1977)
PCNP Patent ceased through non-payment of renewal fee

Effective date: 19991129