CVD

In practical applications, gas-surface etching reactions are carried out in plasma reactors over the approximate pressure range 10 -1 Torr, and deposition reactions are carried out by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) in ultrahigh vacuum (UHV below 10 Torr) or by chemical vapour deposition (CVD) in the approximate range 10 -10 Torr. These applied processes can be quite complex, and key individual reaction rate constants are needed as input for modelling and simulation studies—and ultimately for optimization—of the overall processes. 

CVD gaseous reactants (precursors) delivered to a heated substrate in a flow reactor undergo tliennal reaction to deposit solid films at atmospheric or reduced pressure, and volatile side products are pumped away. CVD is used for conductors, insulators and dielectrics, elemental semiconductors and compound semiconductors and is a workliorse in tire silicon microelectronics industry. 

The fundamental steps in CVD, MOCVD and MOMBE processes can be classified as follows [13] ... 

It is difficult to observe tliese surface processes directly in CVD and MOCVD apparatus because tliey operate at pressures incompatible witli most teclmiques for surface analysis. Consequently, most fundamental studies have selected one or more of tliese steps for examination by molecular beam scattering, or in simplified model reactors from which samples can be transferred into UHV surface spectrometers witliout air exposure. Reference [4] describes many such studies. Additional tliemes and examples, illustrating botli progress achieved and remaining questions, are presented in section C2.18.4. 

Si02, BaTiO capacitors sol—gel, sputtering, chemical vapor deposition (CVD)... 

Rhenium hexafluoride is used for the deposition of rhenium metal films for electronic, semiconductor, laser parts (6—8), and in chemical vapor deposition (CVD) processes which involve the reduction of ReF by hydrogen at elevated (550—750°C) temperatures and reduced (<101.3 kPa (1 atm)) pressures (9,10). 

Rhenium hexafluoride is a cosdy (ca 3000/kg) material and is often used as a small percentage composite with tungsten or molybdenum. The addition of rhenium to tungsten metal improves the ductility and high temperature properties of metal films or parts (11). Tungsten—rhenium alloys produced by CVD processes exhibit higher superconducting transition temperatures than those alloys produced by arc-melt processes (12). 

Specifications. The use of tungsten hexafluoride in CVD appHcations in the manufacture of high density siUcon chips requires a high purity product, essentially free of all metallic contaminants. Several grades of WF are available. Table 2 shows the specifications for three grades of WF. ... 

Silicon Epitaxy. A critical step ia IC fabricatioa is the epitaxial depositioa of sdicoa oa an iategrated circuit. Epitaxy is defined as a process whereby a thin crystalline film is grown on a crystalline substrate. Silicon epitaxy is used ia bipolar ICs to create a high resistivity layer oa a low resistivity substrate. Most epitaxial depositioas are doae either by chemical vapor depositioa (CVD) or by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) (see Thin films). CVD is the mainstream process. 

CVD reactors can have one of several configurations. Each has particular advantages and disadvantages. Reactors that support wafers horizontally have difficulty controlling the deposition uniformity over all the exposed wafers. Reactors having vertical wafer support produce uniform deposition, but are mechanically complex. Barrel reactors are not suited for extended operation at temperatures greater than 1200°C. 

Molecular beam epitaxy is a non-CVD epitaxial process that deposits silicon through evaporation. MBE is becoming more common as commercial equipment becomes available. In essence, silicon is heated to moderate temperature by an electron beam in a high vacuum... 

Pa (10 10 ° Torr)) condition such that the volatile species travels at a relatively high velocity to the substrate wafer. The growth rate is 0.01-0.3 ///min which starts to be competitive with CVD deposition rates. 

Sihcon dioxide layers can be formed using any of several techniques, including thermal oxidation of siUcon, wet anodization, CVD, or plasma oxidation. Thermal oxidation is the dominant procedure used in IC fabrication. The oxidation process selected depends on the thickness and properties of the desired oxide layer. Thin oxides are formed in dry oxygen, whereas thick (>0.5 jim) oxide layers are formed in a water vapor atmosphere (13). 

Dielectric Film Deposition. Dielectric films are found in all VLSI circuits to provide insulation between conducting layers, as diffusion and ion implantation (qv) masks, for diffusion from doped oxides, to cap doped films to prevent outdiffusion, and for passivating devices as a measure of protection against external contamination, moisture, and scratches. Properties that define the nature and function of dielectric films are the dielectric constant, the process temperature, and specific fabrication characteristics such as step coverage, gap-filling capabihties, density stress, contamination, thickness uniformity, deposition rate, and moisture resistance (2). Several processes are used to deposit dielectric films including atmospheric pressure CVD (APCVD), low pressure CVD (LPCVD), or plasma-enhanced CVD (PECVD) (see Plasma technology). 

There are two types of deposited films known as siUcon nitride. One is deposited via plasma-enhanced CVD at temperatures <350° C (18). In this process silane and ammonia react in an argon plasma to form siUcon imide [14515-04-9] SiNH. 

A second type of siUcon nitride, called stoichiometric siUcon nitride, is deposited at much higher temperatures using CVD or LPCVD in the form of Si N. Stoichiometric siUcon nitride can be used as a mask for the selective oxidation of siUcon. Here the siUcon nitride is patterned over a siUcon substrate, and the exposed siUcon is oxidized. The siUcon nitride oxidizes very slowly compared to the siUcon. 

Metallization layers are generally deposited either by CVD or by physical vapor deposition methods such as evaporation (qv) or sputtering. In recent years sputter deposition has become the predominant technique for aluminum metallization. Energetic ions are used to bombard a target such as soHd aluminum to release atoms that subsequentiy condense on the desired substrate surface. The quaUty of the deposited layers depends on the cleanliness and efficiency of the vacuum systems used in the process. The mass deposited per unit area can be calculated using the cosine law of deposition ... 

Copper is an attractive metallisation element because of its high conductivity. It has been added to Al in low concentrations (AlSi(l%)—Cu(0.5%)) to improve conductive priorities. Selective, low temperature copper CVD processing, using copper(I) P-diketonate compounds, has been carried out (23). 

Chemical Vapor Deposition. In chemical vapor deposition (CVD), often referred to as vapor transport, the desired constituent(s) to be deposited are ia the form of a compound existing as a vapor at an appropriate temperature. This vapor decomposes with or without a reducing or oxidizing agent at the substrate— vapor interface for film growth. CVD has been used successfully for preparing garnet and ortho ferrite films (24,25). Laser-assisted CVD is also practiced. 

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