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Semiconductor substrate process using an optically writable carbon-containing mask

  • US 7,429,532 B2
  • Filed: 08/08/2005
  • Issued: 09/30/2008
  • Est. Priority Date: 08/08/2005
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A method of processing a thin film structure on a semiconductor substrate using an optically writable mask, said method comprising:

  • placing the substrate in a reactor chamber, the substrate having on its surface a target layer to be exposed to a light source in accordance with a predetermined pattern;

    depositing an optically writable carbon-containing mask layer on said substrate by;

    (a) introducing a carbon-containing process gas into the chamber,(b) generating a reentrant toroidal RF plasma current in a reentrant path that includes a process zone overlying the workpiece by coupling plasma RF source power to an external portion of said reentrant path,(c) coupling RF plasma bias power or bias voltage to the workpiece;

    optically writing on said carbon-containing mask layer in accordance with said predetermined pattern with writing light of a characteristic suitable for transforming the transparency or opacity of said optically writable mask layer;

    exposing through said mask layer the target layer with reading light of a characteristic different from that of said writing light; and

    setting the transparency or opacity of the carbon layer by at least one of;

    (1) adjusting the ion bombardment energy at the wafer surface,(2) adjusting the workpiece temperature,(3) selecting the hydrogen-carbon gas species of the process gas in accordance with a hydrogen-carbon ratio of the gas,(4) diluting the process gas with hydrogen,(5) diluting the process gas with an inert gas such as helium, neon, argon or xenon,(6) adjusting the flux of energetic ions at the wafer surface relative to the flux of carbon-containing radical species to the wafer surface,(7) adding to the process gas a precursor additive gas of one of;

    (a) an absorption-enhancing species, (b) a transparency-enhancing species;

    (8) implanting in the deposited carbon layer one of;

    (a) an absorption-enhancing species, (b) a transparency-enhancing species.

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