Appeal No. 2001-2461
Application No. 08/855,059
The subject matter on appeal relates to a method for
providing a complete copper fill of a trench, via, or other
feature upon a surface of a semiconductor workpiece. Further
details of this appealed subject matter are recited in
representative claims 1 and 5, the only independent claims on
appeal, reproduced below:
1. A method for providing a complete copper fill
of a trench or via or other feature upon a surface of
a semiconductor workpiece, said method comprising the
steps of:
a) providing a semiconductor workpiece
including a feature to be filled with copper, wherein
a surface of said feature is covered with at least one
wetting layer or barrier layer, or a combination of
wetting and barrier layers, and wherein said wetting
layer or barrier layer or combination of wetting and
barrier layers does not include CVD copper;
b) adjusting said feature surface temperature
within a range from about 200°C to about 600°C; and
c) while said feature surface is within said
temperature range, applying at least one layer of
copper to said feature surface using a sputtering
technique.
5. A method of providing a complete copper fill
of a trench or via or other feature upon a surface of
a semiconductor workpiece, said method comprising the
steps of:
sputter depositing at least one wetting layer of
copper to wet and bond to said surface while said
surface is at a temperature ranging from about 20°C to
about 250°C, followed by sputter depositing at least
one fill layer of copper over said surface while said
surface is at a temperature ranging between about
200°C and about 600°C.
action of Jun. 16, 2000 (paper 24) that the amendment will be
entered for purposes of this appeal.
2
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007