An object is to provide a semiconductor device of which a manufacturing process is not complicated and by which cost can be suppressed, by forming a thin film transistor using an oxide semiconductor film typified by zinc oxide, and a manufacturing method thereof. For the semiconductor device, a gate electrode is formed over a substrate; a gate insulating film is formed covering the gate electrode; an oxide semiconductor film is formed over the gate insulating film; and a first conductive film and a second conductive film are formed over the oxide semiconductor film. The oxide semiconductor film has at least a crystallized region in a channel region.

Semiconductor device, and manufacturing method thereof

Process gas discharged from a bypass pipe to a gas exhaust system can be prevented from diffusing back to the inside of a process chamber without having to install a dedicated vacuum pump at the downstream side of the bypass pipe. The substrate processing apparatus includes a process chamber accommodating a substrate, a gas supply system supplying process gas from a process gas source to the process chamber for processing the substrate, a gas exhaust system configured to exhaust the process chamber, two or more vacuum pumps installed in series at the gas exhaust system, and a bypass pipe connected between the gas supply system and the gas exhaust system. The most upstream one of the vacuum pumps is a mechanical booster pump, and the bypass pipe is connected between the mechanical booster pump and the rest vacuum pumps located at a downstream side of the mechanical booster pump.

Substrate Processing Apparatus

Embodiments of the present invention relate to an apparatus and method of plasma assisted deposition by generation of a plasma adjacent a processing region. One embodiment of the apparatus comprises a substrate processing chamber including a top shower plate, a power source coupled to the top shower plate, a bottom shower plate, and an insulator disposed between the top shower plate and the bottom shower plate. In one aspect, the power source is adapted to selectively provide power to the top shower plate to generate a plasma from the gases between the top shower plate and the bottom shower plate. In another embodiment, a power source is coupled to the top shower plate and the bottom shower plate to generate a plasma between the bottom shower plate and the substrate support. One embodiment of the method comprises performing in a single chamber one or more of the processes including, but not limited to, cyclical layer deposition, combined cyclical layer deposition and plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition; plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition; and/or chemical vapor deposition.

Apparatus and method for plasma assisted deposition

An apparatus and method for performing a cyclical layer deposition process, such as atomic layer deposition is provided. In one aspect, the apparatus includes a substrate support having a substrate receiving surface, and a chamber lid comprising a tapered passageway extending from a central portion of the chamber lid and a bottom surface extending from the passageway to a peripheral portion of the chamber lid, the bottom surface shaped and sized to substantially cover the substrate receiving surface. The apparatus also includes one or more valves coupled to the gradually expanding channel, and one or more gas sources coupled to each valve.

Gas delivery apparatus for atomic layer deposition

A method of forming a boride layer for integrated circuit fabrication is disclosed. In one embodiment, the boride layer is formed by chemisorbing monolayers of a boron-containing compound and one refractory metal compound onto a substrate. In an alternate embodiment, the boride layer has a composite structure. The composite boride layer structure comprises two or more refractory metals. The composite boride layer is formed by sequentially chemisorbing monolayers of a boron compound and two or more refractory metal compounds on a substrate.

Formation of boride barrier layers using chemisorption techniques

A method of depositing a silica glass insulating film over a substrate. In one embodiment the method comprises exposing the substrate to a silicon-containing reactant introduced into a chamber in which the substrate is disposed such that one or more layers of the silicon-containing reactant are adsorbed onto the substrate; purging or evacuating the chamber of the silicon-containing reactant; converting the silicon-containing reactant into a silica glass insulating compound by exposing the substrate to oxygen radicals formed from a second reactant while biasing the substrate to promote a sputtering effect, wherein an average atomic mass of all atomic constituents in the second reactant is less than or equal to an average atomic mass of oxygen; and repeating the exposing, purging/evacuating and exposing sequence a plurality of times until a desired film thickness is reached.

Sequential gas flow oxide deposition technique

Disclosed herein is a gas distribution plate for use in a gas distribution assembly for a processing chamber, where the gas distribution plate is fabricated from a solid yttrium oxide-comprising substrate, which may also include aluminum oxide. The gas distribution plate includes a plurality of through-holes, which are typically crescent-shaped. Through-holes which have been formed in the solid yttrium oxide-comprising substrate by ultrasonic drilling perform particularly well. The solid yttrium oxide-comprising substrate typically comprises at least 99.9% yttrium oxide, and has a density of at least 4.92 g/cm 3 , a water absorbency of about 0.02% or less, and an average grain size within the range of about 10 μm to about 25 μm. Also disclosed herein are methods for fabricating and cleaning the yttrium oxide-comprising gas distribution plate.

Gas distribution plate fabricated from a solid yttrium oxide-comprising substrate

A process is provided for depositing an silicon oxide film on a substrate disposed in a process chamber. A process gas that includes a halogen source, a fluent gas, a silicon source, and an oxidizing gas reactant is flowed into the process chamber. A plasma having an ion density of at least 10 11 ions/cm 3 is formed from the process gas. The silicon oxide film is deposited over the substrate with a halogen concentration less than 1.0%. The silicon oxide film is deposited with the plasma using a process that has simultaneous deposition and sputtering components. The flow rate of the halogen source to the process chamber to the flow rate of the silicon source to the process chamber is substantially between 0.5 and 3.0.

In-situ-etch-assisted HDP deposition

An apparatus for controlling the flow of a liquid precursor into a deposition chamber comprises a liquid injection system having a liquid injection outlet connected to a chamber inlet line upstream of the deposition chamber. The liquid injection system includes a liquid precursor supply, a purge gas supply, a carrier gas supply, a liquid flow meter, and a controller managing flows of the liquid precursor and carrier gas to the chamber. A purge line is connected between the purge gas supply and the liquid flow meter and is used to trap a known mass of liquid precursor. To calibrate the flow of the liquid precursor, the purge gas is used to push the trapped liquid precursor through the liquid flow meter at a steady rate. The elapsed time for evacuating the trapped liquid precursor from the purge line is measured. Calibration information is computed using the mass of the trapped liquid precursor and the measured elapsed time based on the direct liquid measurement approach. The calibration information is used to calibrate the controller to correct deviations in the liquid flow rate and achieve a target liquid precursor flow rate for improving wafer uniformity.

Liquid flow rate estimation and verification by direct liquid measurement

A chemical vapor deposition (CVD) system of the type having an enclosure housing a process chamber and a supply of cleaning gas, features a lid having a base plate with opposed first and second major surfaces and a plurality of throughways extending therebetween to provide an asymmetric flow of cleaning gas into the chamber. Specifically, a subportion of the second major surface lies in a plane of truncation and faces the process chamber when the lid is in a closed position. The remaining portions of the second major surface are recessed, defining central and annular recesses. The annular recess has a base surface and two spaced-apart side surfaces extending from the base surface and terminating proximate to the plane of truncation. The plurality of throughways consists of primary and secondary throughways, each of which extends from an opening in the first major surface and terminates in an orifice. The orifices associated with the secondary throughways are positioned in one of the side surfaces of the annular recess. The orifices associated with the primary throughways lie in the plane that extends orthogonally to the spaced-apart side surfaces.

Thanh N. Pham

Papers

Sequential gas flow oxide deposition technique

Gas distribution plate fabricated from a solid yttrium oxide-comprising substrate

In-situ-etch-assisted HDP deposition

Liquid flow rate estimation and verification by direct liquid measurement

Lid assembly for a process chamber employing asymmetric flow geometries