SILICON DIOXIDE FILM DEPOSITED BY PHOTOASSISTED MICROWAVE PLASMA CVD USING TEOS

High-quality SiO2 films were conformally deposited on an Al-patterned 6 inch diameter Si wafer at a high deposition rate of 150 nm/min by a photoassisted microwave plasma CVD method using tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) at 250-degrees-C. Oxygen gas was excited in a high-density microwave plasma which was generated with cylindrical leaky waveguide and was kept apart from the substrate. Excited oxygen reacted with TEOS gas to generate reactive intermediates. The adsorbed intermediates migrated sufficiently for conformal coverage on the substrate surface and were photoexcited with an extra-high-pressure mercury lamp to produce high-quality SiO2 films. Aluminum steps were successfully planarized with the high-quality SiO2 film.