Surface modification control for etch metric enhancement
First Claim
1. A method for monitoring and controlling a process of plasma-assisted surface modification of a layer formed on a substrate, the method comprising:
- flowing a surface modification gas into a plasma processing chamber of a plasma processing system;
igniting a plasma in the plasma processing chamber to initiate a surface modification process, which includes a photoresist hardening step, for a photoresist layer formed on a substrate;
acquiring optical emission spectra from an optical emission spectroscopy system attached to the plasma processing chamber, during the surface modification process for the photoresist layer;
altering at least one parameter of an electron beam-based exposure recipe based on the acquired optical emission spectra, the electron beam-based exposure recipe being applied to the photoresist hardening step; and
repeating the photoresist hardening step with the altered electron beam-based exposure recipe on the photoresist layer formed on the substrate.
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Abstract
A method is disclosed for monitoring and controlling a process of plasma-assisted surface modification of a layer formed on a substrate. The method includes flowing a surface modification gas into a plasma processing chamber of a plasma processing system, igniting a plasma in the plasma processing chamber to initiate a surface modification process for a layer formed on a substrate, and acquiring optical emission spectra from an optical emission spectroscopy system attached to the plasma processing chamber, during the surface modification process for the layer. For one embodiment, the method includes altering at least one parameter of the surface modification process based on the acquired optical emission spectra. For one embodiment, the acquired optical emission spectra can include an intensity of a spectral line, a slope of a spectral line, or both to enable endpoint control of the surface modification process. Additional methods and related systems are also disclosed.
88 Citations
35 Claims
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1. A method for monitoring and controlling a process of plasma-assisted surface modification of a layer formed on a substrate, the method comprising:
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flowing a surface modification gas into a plasma processing chamber of a plasma processing system; igniting a plasma in the plasma processing chamber to initiate a surface modification process, which includes a photoresist hardening step, for a photoresist layer formed on a substrate; acquiring optical emission spectra from an optical emission spectroscopy system attached to the plasma processing chamber, during the surface modification process for the photoresist layer; altering at least one parameter of an electron beam-based exposure recipe based on the acquired optical emission spectra, the electron beam-based exposure recipe being applied to the photoresist hardening step; and repeating the photoresist hardening step with the altered electron beam-based exposure recipe on the photoresist layer formed on the substrate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A method for monitoring and controlling a surface modification process in a plasma processing tool, the method comprising:
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flowing a surface modification gas into a plasma processing chamber of a plasma processing system; igniting a plasma in the plasma processing chamber to initiate surface modification process, which includes a photoresist hardening step, for a photoresist layer formed on a substrate; monitoring the plasma in the plasma processing chamber during the surface modification process for the photoresist layer using a monitoring system; altering at least one parameter of an electron beam-based exposure recipe based on the monitored plasma, the electron beam-based exposure recipe being applied to the photoresist hardening step; and repeating the photoresist hardening step with the altered electron beam-based exposure recipe on the photoresist layer formed on the substrate, wherein the monitoring system comprises at least one of an optical emission spectroscopy, a laser induced fluorescence, a laser interferometry, laser spectroscopy, a mass spectrometry, a Raman spectroscopy, a residual gas analyzer (RGA), or a Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) system.
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Specification