| CPC C23C 16/45536 (2013.01) [C23C 16/45527 (2013.01); C23C 16/45542 (2013.01); C23C 16/52 (2013.01); C23C 16/54 (2013.01)] | 26 Claims |
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1. A method of semiconductor deposition for creating approximately equal thicknesses of a material on at least two substrates concurrently processed in separate stations of a multi-station deposition apparatus, the method comprising:
(a) providing a first substrate in a first station and a second substrate in a second station of the deposition apparatus, the first station and the second station being contained within a common reaction chamber and sharing a power delivery system and a gas delivery system each coupled to the first and second stations;
(b) concurrently performing at least a portion of N1 deposition cycles at the first station and the second station, wherein each N1 deposition cycle includes operations performed according to instructions of a first process recipe, comprising:
(i) concurrently exposing the first substrate in the first station and the second substrate in the second station to a precursor from the gas delivery system, and
(ii) concurrently activating a first reaction of the precursor on the first substrate in the first station by exposing the first substrate to plasma and activating a second reaction of the precursor on the second substrate in the second station by exposing the second substrate to plasma, wherein:
performing the N1 deposition cycles creates a total deposition thickness T1 of the material on the first substrate,
performing the N1 deposition cycles creates a total deposition thickness T2A of the material on the second substrate, and
T1 is greater than T2A after completion of the N1 deposition cycles; and
(c) subsequent to or prior to the completion of the at least the portion of the N1 deposition cycles at the first station and the second station, performing at least a portion of N2 deposition cycles at the second station, wherein each N2 deposition cycle includes operations performed according to instructions of a second process recipe which differ from the instructions of the first process recipe, comprising:
(i) concurrently exposing the first substrate in the first station and the second substrate in the second station to the precursor from the gas delivery system, and
(ii) during the concurrent exposure of the first substrate and the second substrate to the precursor in (c)(i), activating a reaction of the precursor on the second substrate in the second station by exposing the second substrate to plasma while the first substrate is concurrently in the first station under adjusted conditions in which deposition of the material on the first substrate in the first station is not exposed to plasma, wherein:
performing the N2 deposition cycles creates a total deposition thickness T2B of the material on the second substrate,
performing the N1 and N2 deposition cycles creates a total deposition thickness T2 of the material on the second substrate that is substantially equal to T1, a quantity of the N1 deposition cycles varying from a quantity of the N2 deposition cycles;
the N1 deposition cycles comprise a first plurality of sets of deposition cycles, and the N2 deposition cycles comprise a second plurality of sets of deposition cycles; and
at least some of the first plurality of sets of deposition cycles and at least some of the second plurality of sets of deposition cycles are performed at different times in an alternating fashion.
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