Patent ID: 8921228

Claim:
A method for forming a noble metal layer by Plasma Enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition (PE-ALD) comprising the steps of: providing a substrate in a PE-ALD chamber, the substrate comprising a first region comprising an exposed first material and a second region comprising an exposed second material, wherein the first material comprises a metal nitride or a nitridable metal, and the second material comprises a non-nitridable metal or silicon oxide; selective deposition by PE-ALD of a first noble metal layer on the second region comprising the exposed second material, wherein the deposited first noble metal layer is deposited on the exposed second material and comprises an exposed portion, wherein the selective deposition on the second region comprises repeatedly performing a deposition cycle comprising the following steps: (a) supplying a noble metal precursor to the PE-ALD chamber and contacting the noble metal precursor with the substrate in the presence of a carrier gas followed by purging the noble metal precursor, and (b) exposing the substrate to plasma in the PE-ALD chamber while supplying ammonia and the carrier gas into the PE-ALD chamber; and after the selective deposition on the second region, performing a non-selective deposition by PE-ALD of a second noble metal layer on the second region and on the first region comprising the exposed first material, wherein the non-selective deposition on the second region and on the first region comprises non-selective deposition (i) on the exposed portion of the deposited first noble metal layer on the second region and (ii) on the exposed first material of the first region, wherein the non-selective deposition comprises repeatedly performing the deposition cycle, wherein at step (b) the ammonia is replaced by hydrogen (H 2 ).