Enhanced deposition of layer on substrate using radicals

Abstract

Embodiments relate to using radicals to at different stages of deposition processes. The radicals may be generated by applying voltage across electrodes in a reactor remote from a substrate. The radicals are injected onto the substrate at different stages of molecular layer deposition (MLD), atomic layer deposition (ALD), and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) to improve characteristics of the deposited layer, enable depositing of material otherwise not feasible and/or increase the rate of deposition. Gas used for generating the radicals may include inert gas and other gases. The radicals may disassociate precursors, activate the surface of a deposited layer or cause cross-linking between deposited molecules.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of performing atomic layer deposition, comprising:
 generating radicals of a gas or a mixture of gases;   injecting the generated radicals onto a surface of a substrate to increase a number of nucleation sites on the substrate by placing the surface of the substrate in a reactive state;   injecting a first source precursor onto the surface of the substrate placed in the reactive state, adsorption of the first source precursor on the substrate facilitated by increase in the number of nucleation sites; and   injecting a first reactant precursor onto the substrate injected with the first source precursor to deposit a layer on the surface of the substrate.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the gas or mixture of gases comprise inert gas. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the inert gas is Argon. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 injecting the generated radicals onto the surface of the substrate deposited with the layer;   injecting a second source precursor onto the surface of the substrate deposited with the layer; and   injecting a second reactant precursor onto the surface of the substrate deposited with the layer to deposit another layer.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the second source precursor is a same material as the first source precursor, and the second reactant precursor is a same material as the first reactant precursor. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the source precursor is one selected from a group consisting of SiH 4 , TiCl 4 , SiCl 2 H 2 , HfCl 4 , WF 6 , and metal-organic compounds. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the source precursor is one selected from a group consisting of SiH 4 , TiCl 4 , SiCl 2 H 2 , HfCl 4 , WF 6 , and metal-organic compounds. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the radicals are generated at a location remote from the substrate. 
     
     
         9 . A method of performing chemical vapor deposition, comprising:
 generating radicals of a gas or a mixture of gases;   injecting the generated radicals onto a surface of a substrate to increase a number of nucleation sites on the substrate by placing the surface of the substrate in a reactive state;   injecting source precursor into a reaction zone;   generate radicals of reactant precursor by generating plasma of the reactant precursor;   injecting the generated radicals into the reaction zone to cause reaction between the generated radicals and the injected source precursor; and   moving the surface of the substrate injected with the generated radicals into the reaction zone to deposit a layer on the surface of the substrate.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the source precursor is one selected from a group consisting of SiH 4 , TiCl 4 , SiCl 2 H 2 , HfCl 4 , WF 6 , and a metal-organic compound. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the metal-organic compound is one selected from a group consisting of Trimethylaluminum [(CH 3 ) 3 Al], Tris-dimethylaminosilane [(CH 3 ) 2 NSiH], and Tetrakis(ethylmethylamino)silicon [{(CH 3 )(C 2 H 5 )N} 4 Si]. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the generated radicals comprise N* and the deposited layer comprises SiN. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the gas or mixture of gases comprise inert gas. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the inert gas is Argon.