Patent ID: 10529602

Abstract:
Methods and apparatuses for substrate fabrication are provided herein. The apparatus, for example, can include a cluster tool including a vacuum transfer module (VTM) configured to receive, under vacuum conditions, a silicon substrate with a polysilicon plug (poly plug) and transfer, without vacuum break, the substrate to and from a plurality of processing chambers each independently connected to the VTM for performing a corresponding one of a plurality of DRAM bit line processes on the substrate, the plurality of processing chambers comprising a pre-cleaning chamber configured to remove native oxide from a surface of the substrate, a barrier metal deposition chamber configured to deposit the barrier metal on the surface of the poly plug on the silicon substrate, a barrier layer deposition chamber configured to deposit at least one material on the surface of the barrier metal, a bit line metal deposition chamber configured to deposit at least one material on the surface of the barrier layer, and a hard mask deposition chamber configured to deposit at least one material on the surface of the bit line metal.