Method of Forming Wide, Deep Dielectric Filled Isolation Trenches in the Surface of a Silicon Semiconductor Substrate

1. Technical Field

This invention generally relates to a method of manufacturing semiconductor devices and more particularly to a method of forming wide deep dielectric filled isolation trenches in the surface of a silicon semiconductor substrate.

As is well known to those having skill in the semiconductor art, large scale integrated circuit chips require a large number of surface conductors for the distribution of operating voltages/currents and digital signals from device to device. Although these surface conductors are insulated from the semiconductor substrate upon which they lie, a certain amount of capacitive coupling is present between the insulated conductors and the substrate through the intervening insulating material. This capacitive coupling degrades the signals carried by the surface conductors.

Capacitive coupling between the surface conductors and the substrate can be minimized by increasing the thickness of the dielectric material separating the conductors from the substrate. In order to maintain the planarity of the surface conductors it is desirable to recess the dielectric material below the surface of the substrate rather than adding the dielectric material above the surface of the substrate. It is therefore highly desirable to have the plurality of surface conductors lie on a wide deep dielectric filled isolation trench in the surface of the silicon semiconductor substrate.

2. Background Art

Methods of forming narrow deep dielectric filled isolation trenches in a semiconductor substrate are well known in the art. In one method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,139,442 to Bondur et al, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, narrow deep recessed oxide regions are formed in a silicon substrate by reactive ion etching narrow trenches in the silicon substrate and thermally oxidizing the trench walls to completely fill in the narrow trenches. In another method disclosed in IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 21, No. 5, p. 1868 to Bartush et al, narrow deep recessed oxide regions are produced by chemical vapor depositing a layer of silicon dioxide over a silicon substrate having a narrow trench, and then uniformly etching back to the surface of the silicon substrate, leaving the silicon dioxide filled narrow trench.

Neither of the above methods for forming narrow deep dielectric filled trenches may be used to form wide deep dielectric filled trenches. The Bondur et al method may not be used, as a layer of thermal oxide thick enough to fill in a wide trench cannot be grown without excessive heat cycle time. The Bartush et al method may not be used, as a chemical vapor deposited silicon dioxide layer does not planarize across a wide trench as it does across a narrow trench. Thus, when deposited, the silicon dioxide will be the same thickness at the bottom of the wide trench as it is on the semiconductor surface. The silicon dioxide in the wide trench will then be etched away when the silicon dioxide on the surface is etched, leaving a partially filled wide trench.

Various methods have been proposed for forming wide deep dielectric isolation trenches all of which have various shortcomings as described below. One general way the prior art has sought to form wide deep dielectric filled isolation trenches is by forming a plurality of closely spaced narrow trenches and then converting them into a single wide trench. For example, in FIG. 2 of the above cited Bondur et al patent, a wide deep dielectric filled isolation trench is formed by reactive ion etching a plurality of closely spaced narrow trenches in the surface of a semiconductor substrate and thermally oxidizing the trench walls to completely fill in the trenches with oxide and convert the silicon between the trenches to silicon dioxide. In FIG. 3 of the above cited Bondur et al patent a plurality of closely spaced narrow trenches are formed and then thermally oxidized to partially fill in the trenches. The filling of the trenches is then completed by deposition of suitable material such as pyrolitically deposited silicon oxide.

Unfortunately, the Bondur et al methods of forming a wide deep dielectric filled isolation trench by forming a plurality of closely spaced narrow trenches requires the use of state of the art electron beam lithography techniques for defining the plurality of closely spaced narrow trenches. U.S. Pat. No. 4,211,582 to Horng et al, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, attempts to reduce the required lithography precision by producing closely spaced narrow shallow trenches and reactive ion etching to convert the shallow trenches to a succession of narrow deep trenches. Again, however, the tolerances required for masking are state of the art, while the number of processing steps is increased. In addition, the thermal oxidation thickness required may produce a significant number of crystalographic defects within the silicon substrate.

Another general way the prior art has sought to form a wide deep dielectric filled isolation trench involves forming a wide trench in the substrate surface and forming a wide organic material plug in the trench leaving only a narrow unfilled area to be subsequently filled by a second layer of organic material. For example, the above cited IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin to Bartush et al discloses forming a wide resist plug over a silicon dioxide layer in the wide trench and forming a second resist layer over the plug. The resist and silicon dioxide layers layers are then reactive ion etched down to the top of the substrate at an etch rate ratio of 1:1 to planarize the trench. Unfortunately, when a resist layer is heated during a resist reflow or reactive ion etch step the resist tends to form waves or ripples on the surface thereof. The resist will then etch in a rippled manner, producing a wide dielectric isolation trench having a rippled surface, unsuitable for carrying a plurality of surface conductors.

A second example of a prior art method for forming a deep wide dielectric filled isolation trench by means of a wide organic material plug is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,222,792 to Lever et al, assigned to the assignee of the present invention. In Lever et al, a wide trench is formed in the surface of a silicon substrate and a layer of organic resin glass in a solvent is spin coated over the surface of the semiconductor substrate and within the trench. The resin glass within the trench is exposed to an electron beam to render the resin glass within the trench impervious to a developing solvent. The remainder of the resin glass is stripped away by developing in a solvent, and the resin glass plug within the trench is converted to silicon dioxide by heating in an oxygen ambient. Finally, a layer of silicon dioxide is deposited over the entire surface of the semiconductor substrate and etched away to planarize the trench.

The Lever et al method involves two primary disadvantages. First, the resin glass used to form the resin glass plug is impure, and adds contaminants to the semiconductor substrate through diffusion and migration. In order to prevent these contaminants from affecting semiconductor device operation, a contaminant barrier layer, e.g., chemical vapor deposited silicon nitride, must be added prior to trench filling and then removed from the surface of the substrate after trench filling, thus complicating the process. Moreover, it is difficult to properly form both wide and narrow dielectric filled trenches with the Lever et al method, because the liquid resin glass will remain planar over the narrow trench but follow the contours of the wide trench. Thus the resin glass will be much thicker over the narrow trench than it is over the wide trench. When the resin glass in the narrow and wide trenches are electron beam exposed, and the unexposed resin glass is stripped away, a mound of resin glass will remain over the narrow trench, above the surface of the semiconductor substrate. This mound of resin glass must be removed to planarize the narrow trench.

In conclusion, the prior art has heretofore not provided a wholly acceptable method of forming a wide deep dielectric filled isolation trench in the surface of a silicon semiconductor substrate. Such a method is provided by the present invention.

It is a primary object of this invention to provide an improved method of forming a wide deep dielectric filled isolation trench in the surface of a silicon semiconductor substrate.

It is another object of the invention to provide the above trench without using state of the art fine line electron beam lithography techniques.

It is a further object of the invention to provide the above trench using dielectric materials which will not form ripples on the surface of the filled trench.

It is a further object of the invention to provide the above trench without using materials which contain contaminants and necessitate using a contaminant barrier.

It is a further object of the invention to provide the above trench using processes and materials which are capable of forming both wide and narrow dielectric filled isolation trenches.

These and other objects are accomplished by forming a wide deep trench in the surface of a silicon substrate using etching or other well known techniques. A first layer of silicon dioxide (SiO.sub.2) is chemical vapor deposited (CVD) on the surface of the silicon substrate including the trench. A wide oxide plug is formed in the wide trench by masking at least a portion of the CVD SiO.sub.2 surface within the trench and reactive ion etching the CVD SiO.sub.2 down to the silicon substrate, leaving a narrow unfilled portion at each end of the trench. The unfilled portions are filled by depositing a second layer of CVD SiO.sub.2 and then etching back this layer.

Since the process of the present invention employs a CVD SiO.sub.2 plug rather than a photoresist plug, the formation of ripples on the surface of the plug during subsequent high temperature processing steps is precluded. Thus, the wide deep dielectric filled trenches formed by the method of present invention will be planar and not rippled. Moreover, since glass resin is not employed, contamination of the silicon substrate is eliminated. The method of the present invention will also simultaneously fill narrow dielectric isolation trenches, without additional processing steps.

FIGS. 1-5 are cross sectional views of a portion of a semiconductor substrate at successive stages of practicing the method of the present invention.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a silicon semiconductor substrate in which a number of solid state devices such as transistors, diodes or FETs (not shown) may be fabricated. A narrow trench and a wide trench are shown in the surface of the silicon substrate. Both trenches are approximately 4 .mu.m deep. In the semiconductor manufacturing art, trenches wider than about 15 .mu.m are referred to as wide, although more typically narrow trenches are about 2 .mu.m wide while wide trenches are about 50 .mu.m wide. The wide and narrow trenches may be formed by reactive ion etching through a suitable mask. The reactive ion etching may be done, for example, in a plasma containing a mixture of SF.sub.6 +Cl.sub.2 +He. Other techniques for forming wide and narrow trenches are well known to those having skill in the art.

A thin (approximately 8500 A) layer of polysilicon over a thin (approximately 1000 A) layer of thermal SiO.sub.2 may be grown on the surface of the silicon substrate prior to trench etching to act as an etch stop. After trench etching, a thin (approximately 1000 A) layer of thermal SiO.sub.2 may be grown on the walls and floors of the trenches to insure a good quality SiO.sub.2 /Si interface. The thermal oxide may be grown, for example, by heating the substrate in an O.sub.2 atmosphere. In FIG. 1, a continuous layer of thermal SiO.sub.2 (formed on the silicon substrate prior to trench etching and within the trench after trench etching) and a polysilicon layer, are both shown.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a CVD SiO.sub.2 layer is formed over the surface of the substrate including in the wide and narrow trenches. The SiO.sub.2 layer may be formed using the well known CVD process in Silane+N.sub.2 O at 800.degree. C. The thickness of the CVD SiO.sub.2 layer is approximately equal to the total depth of the wide trench so that the top of the CVD SiO.sub.2 layer in the trench is approximately even with the top layer on the silicon substrate. Thus, if the optional thermal SiO.sub.2 and polysilicon layers are added to the substrate prior to trench etching, the top of the CVD SiO.sub.2 layer in the wide trench should be approximately even with the top of the polysilicon layer.

As will be seen from an examination of FIG. 2, the CVD SiO.sub.2 layer planarizes over the narrow trench but does not planarize over the wide trench. Thus, with regard to the narrow trench, the CVD SiO.sub.2 may be etched back down to the substrate surface to provide a planar SiO.sub.2 filled narrow trench. With regard to the wide trench, the CVD SiO.sub.2 roughly follows the contour of the wide trench so that the thickness of the CVD SiO.sub.2 in the trench is the same as the thickness of the CVD SiO.sub.2 outside the trench. If the wide trench is etched back down to the substrate surface, most of the CVD SiO.sub.2 within the wide trench will also be etched away, leaving the trench unfilled.

According to the present invention the wide trench may be filled by forming a wide SiO.sub.2 plug from the CVD SiO.sub.2 layer within the trench, as shown in FIG. 2. Formation of a wide CVD SiO.sub.2 plug within the trench is accomplished by applying a photoresist over at least a portion of the flat area of the CVD SiO.sub.2 within the wide dielectric trench. In the preferred embodiment, the photoresist is formed over the entire width of the flat CVD SiO.sub.2 region within the wide trench, so as to achieve as wide an SiO.sub.2 plug as possible. The CVD SiO.sub.2 layer is then reactive ion etched (RIE) in an environment of CF.sub.4 +H.sub.2. In such an environment, the etch rate ratio (E.R.R.) of SiO.sub.2 :photoresist is approximately 8:1 and the E.R.R. of SiO.sub.2 :Si is approximately 10:1. Moreover, the RIE process effectively etches only in the vertical direction. The CVD SiO.sub.2 layer of FIG. 2 is reactive ion etched down to the polysilicon buffer and the photoresist removed, resulting in the structure of FIG. 3.

Referring now to FIG. 3, it will be seen that the narrow trench has been filled with CVD SiO.sub.2 and has been planarized. The masked CVD SiO.sub.2 has formed a wide CVD SiO.sub.2 plug in the wide trench leaving a narrow unfilled trench at either end of the wide SiO.sub.2 plug. The RIE process also produces a pair of CVD SiO.sub.2 abuttments on the wide trench sidewalls further reducing the size of the narrow unfilled trenches. The narrow trenches may then be filled by CVD depositing a second SiO.sub.2 layer as shown in FIG. 4.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a second CVD SiO.sub.2 layer (approximately 2 82 m thick) is deposited over the semiconductor substrate including the trench areas. As will be seen from FIG. 4, the surface of the second CVD SiO.sub.2 layer is substantially planar with the possible exception of a pair of cusps formed over the narrow unfilled trenches. The second CVD SiO.sub.2 layer is reactive ion etched down to the polysilicon buffer. Alternatively, a layer of photoresist (shown in FIG. 4) may be spun on the second CVD SiO.sub.2 layer, and the photoresist and second CVD SiO.sub.2 layer reactive ion etched in an ambient of CF.sub.4 wherein the E.R.R. of Si:SiO.sub.2 :photoresist is about 1:1:1. Alternatively, the photoresist and second CVD SiO.sub.2 layer may be reactive ion etched in an ambient of H.sub.2 or an ambient of CF.sub.4 +H.sub.2. The etch is stopped at the polysilicon buffer. The polysilicon buffer and thermal SiO.sub.2 layer may then be chemically etched from the substrate surface, resulting in the structure of FIG. 5.

Referring now to FIG. 5, the wide SiO.sub.2 filled trench is illustrated as a unitary structure, since it is entirely composed of SiO.sub.2. However, from the above description of FIGS. 1-4, it will be recognized that the SiO.sub.2 within the wide trench came from three sources, i.e., the thin thermal layer of FIG. 1, the first CVD SiO.sub.2 layer of FIG. 2 and the second CVD SiO.sub.2 layer of FIG. 4.

It will be recognized by those having skill in the art that the above described process used a wide CVD SiO.sub.2 plug to planarize a wide trench. By using CVD SiO.sub.2, the introduction of impurities into the semiconductor substrate is avoided. Such impurities were present when a glass resin plug was used. Moreover, the CVD SiO.sub.2 plug did not ripple during reactive ion etching, as would a photoresist plug. Finally, the first CVD SiO.sub.2 layer effectively filled any narrow trenches on the semiconductor substrate while forming a wide SiO.sub.2 plug in the wide trench. It will also be recognized by those having skill in the art that suitable dielectrics other than SiO.sub.2, e.g., Phosphorous Silicate Glass, may be used in practicing the above described process.

Whereas we have illustrated and described the preferred embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that we do not limit ourselves to the precise construction herein disclosed and the right is reserved to all changes and modifications coming within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.