Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Semiconductor devices are constructed from stacks of materials with different electrical properties, making deposition of thin layers central in producing semiconductor chips. The shrinking of electronics has resulted in complex device architectures which require deposition into holes and recessed features. A key parameter for such deposition is the step coverage (SC), which is the ratio of the thickness of material at the bottom and at the top. Here, we show that adding a co-flow of a heavy inert gas affords a higher SC for deposition by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). By adding a co-flow of Xe to a CVD process for boron carbide using a single source precursor with a lower molecular mass than the atomic mass of Xe, the SC increased from 0.71 to 0.97 in a 10:1 aspect ratio feature. The concept was further validated by a longer deposition depth in lateral high aspect ratio structures. We suggest that competitive co-diffusion is a general route to conformal CVD.
Source: Nature Communications
Institution: Linköping University
Language: English
Subfield: Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $6,790
Funders: Linköpings Universitet, Vetenskapsrådet
OpenAlex ID: W4405269113