SILICON DIOXIDE FILMS FOR INTERMETAL DIELECTRIC APPLICATIONS DEPOSITED BY AN ECR HIGH DENSITY PLASMA SYSTEM

Deopsition of thermal quality SiO2 using a high density plasma ECR CVD process has been demonstrated to give void and seam free gap fill of high aspect ratio metallization structures with a simple oxygen-silane chemistry. This is achieved by continuous sputter etching of the film during the deposition process. A two-step process is utilized to deposit a composite layer for higher manufacturing efficiency. The first step, which has a deposition rate of approximately 0.5 $\mu$m/min., is used to provide complete gap fill between the metal lines. The second step, which has a deposition rate of up to 1.5 $\mu$m/min., is used to deposit a total thickness of 2.0$\mu$m for the intermetal dielectric film. The topography of this composite film is very compatible with subsequent chemicl mechanical polishing(CMP) planarization processing.