Method of in-situ damage removal - post O2 dry process
First Claim
1. An integrated process flow involving a patterned photoresist layer on a substrate in an etching tool that has one or more process chambers, said patterned photoresist layer having an opening with a top and bottom that extends through at least one underlying layer in said substrate, comprising:
- (a) performing an oxygen ashing step to remove said patterned photoresist layer;
(b) performing a halogen containing plasma step; and
(c) transferring said opening through an exposed layer at the bottom of said opening in said substrate.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An integrated process flow including a plasma step for removing oxide residues following oxygen ashing of a photoresist layer is disclosed. The oxide removal step is effective in preventing micro mask defects and is preferably performed in the same process chamber used for the oxygen ashing step and for a subsequent plasma etch used for pattern transfer. The oxide removal step takes less than 60 seconds and involves a halogen containing plasma that is generated from one or more of NF3, Cl2, CF4, CH2F2, and SF6. Optionally, HBr or a fluorocarbon CXFYHZ where x and y are integers and z is an integer or is equal to 0 may be used alone or with one of the aforementioned halogen containing gases. The oxide removal step may be incorporated in a variety of applications including a damascene scheme, shallow trench (STI) fabrication, or formation of a gate electrode in a transistor.
-
Citations
39 Claims
-
1. An integrated process flow involving a patterned photoresist layer on a substrate in an etching tool that has one or more process chambers, said patterned photoresist layer having an opening with a top and bottom that extends through at least one underlying layer in said substrate, comprising:
-
(a) performing an oxygen ashing step to remove said patterned photoresist layer;
(b) performing a halogen containing plasma step; and
(c) transferring said opening through an exposed layer at the bottom of said opening in said substrate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. An integrated process flow for removing oxide residues, comprising:
-
(a) providing a substrate upon which a stack comprised of an upper patterned photoresist layer, a middle masking layer, and a lower pad oxide layer is formed and positioning said substrate in a process chamber of an etching tool, said patterned photoresist layer having a trench opening that extends through the masking layer and pad oxide layer;
(b) performing an oxygen ashing step to remove the patterned photoresist layer, said oxygen ashing step generates oxide residues on said substrate; and
(c) performing a halogen containing plasma step to remove said oxide residues. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
-
19. An integrated process flow for removing oxide residues, comprising:
-
(a) providing a substrate upon which a stack including a gate dielectric layer, a gate layer, a hard mask layer, and a photoresist layer are sequentially formed and positioning said substrate in a process chamber of an etching tool, said photoresist layer has a pattern comprised of openings that extend through the hard mask layer;
(b) performing an oxygen ashing step to remove the patterned photoresist layer, said oxygen ashing step generates oxide residues on said substrate; and
(c) performing a halogen containing plasma step to remove said oxide residues. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
-
-
29. An integrated process flow for removing oxide residues, comprising:
-
(a) providing a substrate having a stack comprised of an upper patterned photoresist layer, a middle dielectric layer, and a lower etch stop layer formed thereon and positioning said substrate in a process chamber of an etching tool, said patterned photoresist layer having an opening formed therein which extends through said dielectric layer and exposes a portion of said etch stop layer;
(b) performing an oxygen ashing step to remove the patterned photoresist layer, said oxygen ashing step generates oxide residues on said substrate; and
(c) performing a halogen containing plasma step to remove said oxide residues and the exposed portion of said etch stop layer. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
-
Specification