Flow of PECVD Oxide Films Doped with POCI<inf>3</inf>

In this work plasma-enhanced CVD oxide layers doped by a conventional liquid-dopant-source have been evaluated for use as planarization and intermetal dielectric films. The results obtained for the tangential angle of flow show that the use of a doping step in a POCl3 atmosphere followed by a flow step in an oxidizing ambient gives rise, down to 850°C, to acceptable planarized surfaces to ensure continuity of subsequently deposited metal layers. Although a'highly doped layer exists at the surface of the obtained films, the etching of these layers by reactive ion etching leads to contours acceptable for planarization purposes and as a consequence they can be implemented in a CMOS technology. © 1991, The Electrochemical Society, Inc. All rights reserved.