Thin films deposition processes

Zilko, J. L., Metallo-Organic CVD Technology and Equipment, in Handbook of Thin-Film Deposition Processes and Techniques, (K. K. Shuegraf, ed.), Noyes Publications, Park Ridge, NJ (1988)... 

Interconnect. Three-dimensional structures require interconnections between the various levels. This is achieved by small, high aspect-ratio holes that provide electrical contact. These holes include the contact fills which connect the semiconductor silicon area of the device to the first-level metal, and the via holes which connect the first level metal to the second and subsequent metal levels (see Fig. 13.1). The interconnect presents a major fabrication challenge since these high-aspect holes, which may be as small as 0.25 im across, must be completely filled with a diffusion barrier material (such as CVD titanium nitride) and a conductor metal such as CVD tungsten. The ability to fill the interconnects is a major factor in selecting a thin-film deposition process. 

K. K. Schuegraf, Handbook of Thin-Film Deposition Processes and Techniques, Noyes, Park Ridge, NJ, 1988. 

HANDBOOK OF THIN FILM DEPOSITION PROCESSES AND TECHMQUE edited by Klaus... 

What follows is a review of the open and patent literature of thin film deposition processes that are related to Combustion Chemical Vapor Deposition (CCVD). This will help to distinguish the novel CCVD process from more... 

We are aware of recent work by others concerning development of flame-based thin film deposition processes. However, our efforts and patents predate all of this work. Some key references ... 

Thin film deposition for producing dense membranes has been presented in Sections 3.1.1 and 3.1.2. The processes can also be used to prepare porous membranes by adjusting the operating conditions. For example, transition metals and their alloys can be deposited on a porous ceramic, glass, or stainless steel support by the thin-film deposition process to produce porous metal membranes with small pore sizes [Teijin, 1984]. 

Unlike other thin film deposition processes, conditions for diamond CVD have three unique features (i) high substrate temperature typically at 700-1200 °C, (ii) high gas pressure P at 20-150Torr (lTorr= 133.3 Pa), and (iii) low methane (CH4) concentration of usually 1-5% with respect to the dilution gas, hydrogen (H2). A standard temperature for diamond growth, monitored by an optical pyrometer without emissivity correction, is 800 °C. It is, however, considered that the surface temperature of the specimen exposed to the plasma is actually higher. Under these conditions, at least more than 95% of the deposited film can be crystalline diamond,... 

M. Konuma, ed. by Y. Pauleau. Feature and Mechanisms of Layer Growth in Liquid Phase Epitaxy of Semiconductor Materials, in Chemical Physics of Thin Film Deposition Processes for Micro- and Nano-Technologies (Springer, Berlin, 2002), p. 384... 

In the grafting from approach, a surface, that was previously activated e.g. by plasma treatment, is exposed to a monomer solution (Huang et al. 2003). A more simple, one-step procedure is to inadiate a polymeric surface like TCP, which is covered with the monomer solution, by an electron beam (Yamada et al. 1990). Alternatively, ultraviolet light and a photosensitiser can be utilised to initiate polymerisation and cross-linking (Curti et al. 2005). A completely different route to prepare thin SRP coatings with good adhesion to solid substrates is plasma polymerisation (Biederman and Osada 1992). In this case, NIPAAm is used as a precursor in a plasmachemical thin film deposition process (Cheng et al. 2005 Pan et al. 2001). 

The impetus for this topic has been provided by the development of molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) as a viable thin film deposition process [ 111]. As a result, the approach has concentrated more on investigations of reaction kinetics than on electronic effects, since kinetic parameters are directly available from modulated molecular beam measurements (see Sect. 2.4.1). We will summarize here only the results for beams of As4 and As2 interacting with 100 GaAs surfaces, but closely similar behaviour is observed for other Group V elements and other Group III—V compound surfaces. The choice of tetramer and dimer beams is dictated by the evaporation behaviour of Group V elements in that elemental sources produce tetramers and Group III—V compound sources produce dimers. Monomeric species are not readily available. 

C. Lu, Monitoring and Controlling Techniques for Thin Film Deposition Processes, 1981. 

This modular system is very flexible with respect to the type of thin-film deposition process (different methods of PVD and CVD) and the means of laser ionization (one-, two- or multiple-photon ionization with fixed or tunable laser wavelengths). 

The study of the thin film deposition process shows that the film structure is strongly dependent on the crystal and energetic properties of the surfaces in contact. As a rule, the epitaxial contact between two phases is the most energetically favourable, but because of the high deposition rate of the thin films an amorphous structure is formed instead of an epitaxial layer. With increase of the film thickness or at higher temperatures, the amorphous phase is converted into a crystalline film. 

Any thin film deposition process involves three main steps (a) production of the appropriate atomic, molecular, or ionic species (b) transport of these species to the substrate through a medium (c) condensation on the substrate, either directly or via a chemical and/or electrochemical reaction, to form a solid deposit. 

M. Knez et al. showed the application of atomic layer deposition, a gas-phase thin film deposition process, to biological macromolecules (tobacco mosaic virus and ferritin), which are frequently used as templates in nanoscale science, and the possibility to fabricate metal oxide nanotubes and thin films with embedded... 

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