Evaluation of plasma induced damage of HDP FSG and USG in deep sub-micron technology

We studied and compared the extent of plasma induced damage from high density plasma (HDP) undoped silicate glass (USG) and fluorinated silicate glass (FSG) deposition on 0.18 /spl mu/m transistors. Our results show that the plasma-induced damage from HDP FSG is greater than that from HDP USG. We have developed a novel integration scheme that is effective in reducing the damage from HDP FSG down to levels comparable to that of USG.