Some implementations herein provide a PVD tool that includes a rotational magnet system configured to generate a magnetic field in a processing chamber of the PVD tool. The magnetic field may be used to control the distribution and/or flow of material from a target structure in the processing chamber to a semiconductor substrate in the processing chamber. The rotational magnet system includes a spiral pattern of magnetic pillars on a disc structure. The quantity, spacing, and/or arrangement of the magnetic pillars in the spiral pattern are configured to reduce the likelihood of formation of hot spots in the electromagnetic field in the processing chamber.

Physical vapor deposition (PVD) chambers and deposition rings for physical vapor deposition (PVD) chambers are described. The deposition ring comprises a ring-shaped body having an upper portion and a lower portion, each of the upper portion and the lower portion independently comprising an inner diameter surface and an outer diameter surface defining an upper portion thickness and a lower portion thickness, and a top surface and a bottom surface defining an upper portion height and a lower portion height, the upper portion height greater than the lower portion height; and a plurality of circumferentially spaced notches formed along an edge of the inner diameter surface of the lower portion, wherein at least a portion of the upper portion defines a convex shape.

Embodiments of present invention provide a semiconductor device. The semiconductor structure includes a plurality of nanosheet (NS) channel layers having a plurality of source/drain (S/D) regions on sidewalls thereof; and a continuous contact via being in direct contact with the plurality of S/D regions, wherein the continuous contact via has a substantially same horizontal distance to each of the plurality of NS channel layers. A method of manufacturing the same is also provided.

There is provided a technique that includes (a) supplying a first-element-containing gas to the substrate; (b) supplying a first reducing gas to the substrate; (c) supplying a second reducing gas, which is different from the first reducing gas, to the substrate; (d) supplying a third reducing gas, which is different from both the first reducing gas and the second reducing gas, to the substrate; (e) after a start of (a), performing (b) in parallel with (a); (f) in (e), performing (d) in parallel with (b); and (g) forming a first-element-containing film on the substrate by alternately performing (e) and (c) a predetermined number of times.

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes placing a substrate in a housing, supplying first gas containing molybdenum to the housing to form a film that contains molybdenum, on the substrate, removing the substrate with the formed film from the hosing, and then supplying second gas containing chlorine to the housing to remove molybdenum deposited on a surface of the housing.

Interconnect structures and methods and apparatuses for forming the same are disclosed. In an embodiment, a method includes supplying a process gas to a process chamber; igniting the process gas into a plasma in the process chamber; reducing a pressure of the process chamber to less than 0.3 mTorr; and after reducing the pressure of the process chamber, depositing a conductive layer on a substrate in the process chamber.

Metal nitride diffusion barriers may be included between cobalt-based structures and ruthenium-based structures to reduce, minimize, and/or prevent intermixing of cobalt into ruthenium. A metal nitride diffusion barrier layer may include a cobalt nitride (CoN.sub.x), a ruthenium nitride (RuN.sub.x), or another metal nitride that has a bond dissociation energy greater than the bond dissociation energy of cobalt to cobalt (CoCo), and may therefore function as a strong barrier to cobalt migration and diffusion into ruthenium. Moreover, cobalt nitride and ruthenium nitride have lower resistivity relative to other materials such as titanium nitride (TiN), tungsten nitride (WN), and tantalum nitride (TaN). In this way, the metal nitride diffusion barriers are capable of minimizing cobalt diffusion and intermixing into ruthenium-based interconnect structures while maintaining a low contact resistance for the interconnect structures. This may increase semiconductor device performance, may increase semiconductor device yield, and may enable further reductions in interconnect structure size.

Methods and apparatus for selectively depositing a molybdenum layer on a substrate which includes contacting a substrate surface initially comprising a first portion comprising amorphous silicon, and a second portion comprising silicon and germanium with a molybdenum precursor to selectively form a molybdenum layer on the second portion of the substrate surface.

The present disclosure provides an integrated circuit (IC) structure. The IC structure includes first and second fins formed on a semiconductor substrate and laterally separated from each other by an isolation feature, the isolation feature formed of a dielectric material that physically contacts the semiconductor substrate; and a contact feature between the first and second fins and extending into the isolation feature thereby defining an air gap vertically between the isolation feature and the contact feature, the dielectric material of the isolation feature extending from the semiconductor substrate to the contact feature.

Described herein is a technique capable of improving characteristics of a film. According to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a technique that includes: (a) performing (a-1) supplying in parallel a metal-containing gas and a reducing gas that contains silicon and hydrogen and is free of halogen to a substrate in a process chamber, and (a-2) exhausting an inner atmosphere of the process chamber; (b) repeatedly performing (a) a first number of times; (c) supplying a nitrogen-containing gas to the substrate in the process chamber and exhausting the inner atmosphere of the process chamber after performing (b); and (d) repeatedly performing (a) a second number of times.