Patent ID: 7081271

Claim:
A method for depositing a refractory metal silicon nitride layer on a surface of an underlying layer, comprising: introducing a pulse of a nitrogen-containing precursor, wherein the nitrogen-containing precursor is introduced first to prevent diffusion of a refractory metal-containing precursor and a silicon-containing precursor into the underlying layer; and exposing the surface to a cyclic deposition process in a process chamber by providing at least one cycle of precursors to form the refractory metal silicon nitride layer, the at least one cycle comprising: introducing a pulse of the refractory metal containing precursor into the process chamber; pulsing a purge gas into the process chamber; introducing a pulse of the nitrogen-containing precursor into the process chamber; pulsing the purge gas into the process chamber; introducing a pulse of the silicon-containing precursor into the process chamber; and pulsing the purge gas into the process chamber.