Deposition and Etching of Ruthenium for Promising Metallization Systems of Integrated Circuits

The influence of plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) process parameters on ruthenium layers using the organometallic precursor Ru(EtCp)2 and oxygen plasma was studied. Ruthenium oxide was shown to deposit at sample temperatures below 325°C. Metallic ruthenium was deposited in the 375–400°C range. Conformal ruthenium deposition in grooves with an aspect ratio of 3–5 was demonstrated. The influence of oxygen plasma treatment duration during PEALD was also studied. The results of studies on the possibilities of anisotropic nanoscale plasma etching of ruthenium film samples with the formation of conductors with cross-sectional dimensions of less than 30 × 30 nm are also presented.