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Titanium nitride (TiN) not only was utilized in the wear-resistant coatings industry but it was also adopted in barrier processes for semiconductor manufacturing. Barrier processes include the titanium (Ti) and TiN processes, which are commonly used as diffusion barriers in via/contact applications. However, engineers frequently struggle at the via/contact module in the beginning of every technology node. As devices shrink, barrier processes become more challenging to overcome the both the physical fill-in and electrical performance requirements of advanced small via/contact plugs. The aim of this paper is to investigate various chemical vapor deposition (CVD) TiCl 4 -based barrier processes to serve the application of advanced small via/contact plugs and the metal gate processes. The results demonstrate that the plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) TiCl 4 -based Ti process needs to select a feasible process temperature to avoid Si surface corrosion by high-temperature chloride flow. Conventional high step coverage (HSC) CVD TiCl 4 -based TiN processes give much better impurity performance than metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) TiN. However, the higher chloride content in HSC film may degrade the long-term reliability of the device. Furthermore, it is evidenced that a sequential flow deposition (SFD) CVD TiCl 4 -based process with multiple cycles can give much less chloride content, resulting in faster erase speeds and lower erase levels than that of conventional HSC TiN.

A technique for observing recording marks by SEM (scanning electron microscopy) channelling contrast imaging was proposed. In phase-change materials, the amorphous phases show less topographic change after the phase-change process, and we hard to be examined by SEM SEI (secondary electron image mode) imaging. Although these recording marks can be observed clearly by TEM (transmission electron microscopy), the TEM specimen preparation method is complicated. The SEM channelling contrast imaging technique provides an easier way to investigate the “distortion” of direct-overwrite amorphous marks in phase-change media.