Selective Growth and Contact Gap-Fill of Low Resistivity Si via Microwave Plasma-Enhanced CVD

Low resistivity polycrystalline Si could be selectively grown in the deep (~200 nm) and narrow patterns (~20 nm) of 20 nm pitch design rule DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) by microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (MW-CVD). We were able to achieve the high phosphorus (CVD gap-fill in a large electrical contact area which does is affected by line pitch size) doping concentration (>2.5 × 10²¹ cm^-3) and, thus, a low resistivity by adjusting source gas (SiH₄, H₂, PH₃) decomposition through MW-CVD with a showerhead controlling the decomposition of source gases by using two different gas injection paths. In this study, a selective growth mechanism was applied by using the deposition/etch cyclic process to achieve the bottom-up process in the L-shaped contact, using H₂ plasma that simultaneously promoted the deposition and the etch processes. Additionally, the cyclic selective growth technique was set up by controlling the SiH₄ flow rate. The bottom-up process resulted in a uniform doping distribution, as well as an excellent filling capacity without seam and center void formation. Thus, low contact resistivity and higher transistor on-current could be achieved at a high and uniform phosphorus (P)-concentration. Compared to the conventional thermal, this method is expected to be a strong candidate for the complicated deep and narrow contact process.