Parasitic Surface Reactions in High-Aspect Ratio Via Filling using ALD: A Stochastic Kinetic Model

A scalable kinetic Monte-Carlo model (sKMC) of molecular transport for atomic layer deposition (ALD) for high aspect-ratio (AR) features is developed. Surface coverage is a critical parameter studied here in detail. The capabilities of the stochastic model provide insight into challenges in growing ALD films in high-AR via structures faced by the industry, including the effects of parasitic surface reactions resulting in poor coverage. Furthermore, we provide experimental results verifying the model's prediction by growing ALD SiN
_x
, on high-AR via structures. By compensating for the processing errors corroborated by the model, we experimentally improved sidewall coverage from 70% to 92%.