DC Magnetron Sputtering

Abstract

A DC magnetron sputtering apparatus is for depositing a film on a substrate. The apparatus includes a chamber, a substrate support positioned within the chamber, a DC magnetron, and an electrical signal supply device for supplying an electrical bias signal that, in use, causes ions to bombard a substrate positioned on the substrate support. The substrate support includes a central region surrounded by an edge region, the central region being raised with respect to the edge region.

Claims

1. A DC magnetron sputtering apparatus for depositing a film on a substrate comprising: a chamber; a substrate support positioned within the chamber; a DC magnetron; and an electrical signal supply device for supplying an electrical bias signal that, in use, causes ions to bombard a substrate positioned on the substrate support; in which the substrate support comprises a central region surrounded by an edge region, the central region being raised with respect to the edge region.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the substrate support comprises a step leading from the edge region to the central region.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 in which the step has a height in the range 0.1 to 1.0 mm, preferably in the range 0.2 to 0.5 mm.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the central region defines a substantially planar plateau region.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the electrical signal supply device supplies an RF bias signal.

6. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the DC magnetron is a pulsed DC magnetron.

7. Apparatus according to claim 1 comprising a rotation device for rotating the substrate during film deposition.

8. A method of depositing a film on a substrate comprising the steps of: positioning the substrate on a substrate support in a chamber; and depositing the film on the substrate using a DC magnetron sputtering process in which an electrical bias signal causes ions to bombard the substrate; in which the substrate support comprises a central region surrounded by an edge region, the central region being raised with respect to the edge region, and the substrate is positioned on the central region so that a portion of the substrate overlays the edge region and is spaced apart therefrom.

9. A method according to claim 8 in which the film is a metal nitride film.

10. A method according to claim 9 in which the film is an aluminium nitride film.

11. A method according to claim 10 in which the film is a (002) oriented aluminium nitride film.

12. A method according to claim 9 in which the film is a bimetallic nitride film, preferably an AlScN film.

13. A method according to claim 8 in which the electrical bias signal produces a DC bias.

14. A method according to claim 13 in which the electrical bias signal is a RF bias signal.

15. A method according to claim 8 in which the substrate extends beyond the edge region.

16. A method according to claim 8 in which the substrate is rotated during the deposition of the film.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0043] Embodiments of apparatus and methods in accordance with the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0044] FIG. 1 shows AlN film stress as a function of wafer radial position for a thermal magnetron deposition process;

[0045] FIG. 2 shows AlN film stress as a function of wafer radial position for a magnetron deposition process in which RF power is applied to the wafer;

[0046] FIG. 3 shows an apparatus of the invention;

[0047] FIG. 4 is a side view of a substrate support of the invention;

[0048] FIG. 5 shows AlN film stress as a function of wafer radial position obtained using two stepped substrate supports;

[0049] FIG. 6 shows an asymmetric AlN film stress profile as a function of wafer radial position;

[0050] FIG. 7 is a cut away perspective view of a stepped substrate support having a substrate rotation facility; and

[0051] FIG. 8 shows AlN film stress as a function of wafer position for a wafer which is rotated during deposition.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0052] FIG. 3 shows an apparatus of the invention, depicted generally at 30. The apparatus 30 comprises a chamber 32 which contains a DC magnetron device 34, a target 36 from which material is sputtered by the magnetron device 34 and a substrate support 38 which supports a substrate (not shown) on which a desired material is deposited. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the chamber is cylindrical, although in principle other chamber shapes might be utilised. For presentational simplicity, other common aspects of magnetron sputtering devices, such as gas inlets and outlets, are not shown in FIG. 3.

[0053] The DC magnetron device 34 comprises a target backing plate 34a which acts as a lid of the chamber 32. A target 36 is bonded to the target backing plate 34a. Rotatable magnets 34b are positioned close to and opposite the face of the target backing plate 34a and the target 36. Pulsed DC power is applied to the target 36 from a DC power supply 40. RF power is applied to the substrate support 38 from a RF power supply 42 in order to provide a DC electrical bias to the substrate support. Typically, the substrate support 38 is driven at 13.56 MHz out of convention, although the invention is not limited in this regard. The operation of the power supplies 40 42 is controlled with a controller 44. The controller 44 may be a computer having a suitable graphical user interface.

[0054] In use, a wafer is positioned on the substrate support 38 which is driven to produce a negative DC bias. A suitable gas mixture is introduced into the chamber and a pulsed, negative, high DC voltage is applied to the target backing plate 34a/target 36 which thereby acts as a cathode. This creates a high density plasma. The wafer sits inside the main erosion track of the cathode which is dictated by the rotating path of the magnets 34b. Without wishing to be limited by any particular theory or conjuncture, it is believed that there is typically a far higher degree of ionisation at the edge of the target compared to the centre, and the DC bias at the wafer generates more ion bombardment at the edge of the wafer compared to the centre. This is believed to give rise to a generally high degree of stress non uniformity across the wafer.

[0055] FIG. 4 shows the substrate support 38 in more detail. It can be seen that the substrate support is in the form of a stepped platen having an edge region 38a which is in communication with a raised central region 38b via a step 38c. The edge region 38a and central region 38b are supported on a support structure 38d. The support structure 38d can enable the platen to be raised and lowered, as is well known in the art. FIG. 4 also shows a substrate wafer 46 positioned on the substrate support 38. The planar substrate wafer 46 lies flush with the central region 38b and is therefore raised with respect to the edge portion 38a as shown in FIG. 4. The substrate wafer 46 is sized so that it overhangs the edge region 38a and is spaced apart therefrom. Without wishing to be limited by any particular theory or conjecture, it is believed that the stepped profile of the substrate support 38 has two effects. Firstly, RF coupling is reduced at the edge of the wafer substrate, which reduces ion bombardment relative to the centre of the wafer. This makes the edge profile of the deposited film more tensile. Since the centre of the wafer is also tensile, the variation in stress across the wafer is reduced. Secondly, there is no direct contact between the substrate support and the wafer substrate at the edges of the wafer substrate, which is believed to reduce contact cooling of the wafer by the substrate support. The wafer substrate is heated throughout deposition by ion bombardment. Since the centre of the wafer is in thermal contact with the centre region 38b of the substrate support, the centre region of the wafer is cooled by the substrate support. The edges of the wafer substrate do not receive direct contact cooling and therefore experience higher temperatures. This makes the edge of the substrate more tensile which again acts to reduce the overall variation in stress across the wafer.

[0056] It will be appreciated that conventional prior art substrate supports are planar, with the wafer being in contact with the substrate support across its entire area. Table 1 provides dimensions for a conventional, planar prior art platen and two embodiments of platens of the invention, denoted as mark 1 and mark 2. In Table 1, X corresponds to the height of the step, Y corresponds to the diameter of the central region, and Z corresponds to the diameter of the edge region. These dimensions are suitable for supporting 200 mm diameter wafers. Typically, the height of the step is less than 1.0 mm, although it will be appreciated that the step height and the other dimensions of the substrate support can be varied as appropriate in order to produce the optimal combination of heating and RF conditions for a desired substrate size and with a desired average stress characteristic of the deposited film while maintaining a “dark space”, i.e. no plasma, below the wafer. Experiments were performed depositing AlN films onto wafers using the mark 1 and mark 2 substrate supports. The associated process conditions are shown below in Table 2.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Platen dimensions for 200 mm wafers for standard and 2 stepped variants. Standard Platen Mark 1 Mark 2 X (mm) 0 0.2-0.5 0.2-0.5 Y(mm) 194 114  60 Z(mm) 194 194 194

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Process parameter range for AIN depositions. Process Step Parameter Range Pulsed DC power (kW)  1-10 Pulse frequency (kHz) & 5-100, 1-10 duration (μsec) Chamber Pressure (mT)  1-12 Gas flows (sccm) 5-40Ar/5-80N.sub.2 Platen temperature (° C.) 100-400 Substrate bias (Volts) −20-45  Target to wafer separation (cm) 3-9

[0057] FIG. 5 shows stress profiles as a function of wafer radial position obtained using the mark 1 and mark 2 platens of the invention. The curve 50 shows the stress profile obtained using the mark 1 platen and the curve 52 shows the stress profile obtained using the mark 2 platen. It can be seen that the average stress in both instances is moderately tensile, with the mark 2 platen giving rise to a slightly more tensile average stress in the deposited AlN film. The variation in stress across the film is around 140 MPa for the mark 1 platen and around 100 MPa for the mark 2 platen. In comparison, AlN films deposited using the conventional planar platen exhibited a variation in stress across the film of about 250 MPa.

[0058] It has been observed that another factor affecting stress non-uniformity in the deposited films is the presence of a non-radial component across the wafer. In some instances it has been found that there can be a large variation in stress from one half of a wafer substrate to another. FIG. 6 shows a stress profile 60 which exhibits an asymmetrical profile from one half of the wafer to the other. Without wishing to be limited by any particular theory or conjecture, it is believed that the asymmetry is likely due to small variations in plasma potential through the chamber. A change of 1-2V in potential at the wafer surface can lead to stress differences of the order of 100 MPa. In practice, it is difficult to avoid voltage variations of this order due to small asymmetries in hardware. This problem can be overcome by using substrate supports of the invention and rotating the wafer during the deposition process. The rotation can be done in various ways, although it is preferable that the wafer experiences a full 360 degree turn during the process. Whilst it is in principle possible to continuously rotate the wafer during deposition, one practical solution is to deposit the film in several steps, and to rotate the wafer in between the deposition steps. This creates an averaging effect across the wafer but improves thickness uniformity and stress uniformity. FIG. 7 shows a stepped platen 70 having a puck 72 at the centre of the platen which raises and rotates the wafer between deposition steps. This is a convenient way in which the wafer can be rotated through the deposition process. FIG. 8 shows a stress profile 80 as a function of wafer radial position obtained using the substrate support shown in FIG. 7. It can be seen that an excellent, almost completely symmetric profile is attained with a relatively small variation (about 90 MPa) in stress across the wafer.

[0059] The invention can be applied to a range of films, including other metal nitrides. The invention is particularly applicable to deposition processes where the tolerances tight, especially where it is required that the stress of the deposited film is highly uniform.