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In this study, films consisting of B-N-C-H have been synthesized by low pressure chemical vapor deposition using the liquid precursor triethylamine borane complex (TEAB) both with and without ammonia. When no NH3 is present, the growth rate was observed to follow an Arrhenius behavior in the temperature range of 600 to 800 °C with an apparent activation energy of 11 kcal/mol. A linear dependence of growth rate is observed as a function of square root of flow rate for the TEAB range of 20 to 60 sccm, indicating that the reaction rate is controlled by the adsorption of borane. The addition of NH3 to TEAB had the effect of lowering the deposition temperature down to 300 °C and increasing the apparent activation energy to 22 kcal/mol. Above 650 °C, the carbon concentration of the deposits increased significantly, reflecting the breakup of the amine molecule. X-ray diffraction measurements indicated the films to be in all cases amorphous. Infrared spectra of the films showed absorption peaks representing the vibrational modes of B-N, B-N-B, B-H, and N-H. The index of refraction varied between 1.76 and 2.47, depending on composition of the films. Films deposited with no NH3 above 700 °C were seen to be compressive while films below that temperature were tensile. In the range of 350 to 475 °C, the addition of NH3 to TEAB resulted in films that were mildly tensile, while below 325 °C and above 550 °C, the films were found to be compressive. Both the hardness and Young's modulus of the films decreased with higher temperatures, reflecting the influence of the carbon presence.

Given the much discussed challenges of interconnect scaling at the 65-nm node, the choice of process architecture is a key determinant of performance and extendibility. An altemate trench-first with hardmask integration is described in this work, including subsequent benefits. BEOL design rules are detailed for the 65-nm architecture, supporting both "low-k and "ultra-low-k" backends, satisfying RC scaling requirements. Electrical parametric performance and yield are presented for a fully-integrated 300mm backend utilizing 65-nm design rules demonstrating the viability of this architecture for the 65-nm node and beyond.

No abstract

A particle beam mass spectrometer (PBMS) was used to monitor particle generation during the deposition of borophosphosilicate glass (BPSG) films in a Lam Research Corporation DSM 9800 low-pressure chemical vapor deposition reactor. The precursors used were tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS), triethylborate (TEB), phosphine, and oxygen.Typical process pressures ranged from 1-3 Torr, while the process temperatures varied from 775-825°C. The PBMS monitored the flow in the reactor exhaust line, and under typical process conditions detected a high concentration of fine particles (-101'/cm3) whenever TEOS was flowing into the reactoi indicating that the particles are formed by a gas-phase nucleation process initiated by the decomposition of TEOS. The median particle diameter was determined to be about 0.2 m. It is not known whether the particle generation occurred within the reactor or in the cooler (-350°C) exhaust line. Fourier transform infrared, energy-dispersive X-ray, and inductively coupled plasma analysis showed that the particles had a composition largely similar to that of BPSG films, suggesting that the particles could have formed within the reactor. However, wafer scanner measurements after deposition detected very few added particles. This lack of adverse effect could imply that the particle generation occurred downstream of the reactor chamber, or that if it did occur within the reactor, the particles were prevented from depositing due to thermophoresis. PBMS measurements also showed the existence of a threshold for process pressure and for TEOS flow rate below which no particle formation was detected. A similar threshold was not observed for film formation.