Patent ID: 6900129

Claim:
A method of depositing a tantalum-based film on a semiconductor device substrate having a temperature in the range of about 300° C.-500° C., the method comprising providing a vapor of a tantalum pentafluoride precursor to a reaction chamber containing said substrate by heating said precursor to a temperature sufficient to vaporize said precursor, then combining said vapor in said reaction chamber with a process gas to deposit said film on said substrate, wherein said deposited film contains less than about 2 at. % fluorine, and wherein the method includes at least one step selected from the group consisting of: a) combining said vapor above said substrate with said process gas consisting essentially of N 2 and H 2 and optional inert gases to deposit a TaN x film on said substrate by a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) process; b) combining said vapor with said process gas consisting essentially of nitrogen and hydrogen and optionally one or more of argon and helium by providing said process gas to said reaction chamber concurrently with providing said vapor to said reaction chamber to deposit a TaN x film on said substrate by a thermal chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process; and c) combining said vapor with said process gas consisting essentially of hydrogen and optionally one or more of argon and helium and generating a plasma in said combined vapor and process gas and reacting said combined vapor and process gas in the presence of said plasma to deposit a Ta film on said substrate by a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) process.