Resist hardening and development processes for semiconductor device manufacturing
First Claim
1. A method of forming an etch mask on a substrate, the method comprising:
- forming a resist layer on a substrate;
exposing one or more regions of the resist layer to an energy source so as to alter at least one of a physical property and a chemical property of the exposed regions;
performing a hardening process on the resist layer to increase the etch resistance of first regions of the resist layer relative to second regions of the resist layer, the hardening process including exposing the resist layer to one or more reactive species within an atomic layer deposition (ALD) chamber and vibrating the substrate during at least a portion of the hardening process; and
dry etching the resist layer to remove the one or more second regions and to form a pattern in the resist layer.
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Abstract
In some embodiments, a method of forming an etch mask on a substrate is provided that includes (1) forming a resist layer on a substrate; (2) exposing one or more regions of the resist layer to an energy source so as to alter at least one of a physical property and a chemical property of the exposed regions; (3) performing a hardening process on the resist layer to increase the etch resistance of first regions of the resist layer relative to second regions of the resist layer, the hardening process including exposing the resist layer to one or more reactive species within an atomic layer deposition (ALD) chamber; and (4) dry etching the resist layer to remove the one or more second regions and to form a pattern in the resist layer. Other embodiments are provided.
17 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method of forming an etch mask on a substrate, the method comprising:
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forming a resist layer on a substrate; exposing one or more regions of the resist layer to an energy source so as to alter at least one of a physical property and a chemical property of the exposed regions; performing a hardening process on the resist layer to increase the etch resistance of first regions of the resist layer relative to second regions of the resist layer, the hardening process including exposing the resist layer to one or more reactive species within an atomic layer deposition (ALD) chamber and vibrating the substrate during at least a portion of the hardening process; and dry etching the resist layer to remove the one or more second regions and to form a pattern in the resist layer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of patterning a substrate, the method comprising:
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forming a resist layer on a substrate; exposing one or more regions of the resist layer to an energy source so as to alter at least one of a physical property and a chemical property of the exposed regions; developing the resist layer to pattern the resist layer; and performing a hardening process on the patterned resist layer to increase the etch resistance of the patterned resist layer, the hardening process including exposing the patterned resist layer to one or more reactive species within an atomic layer deposition (ALD) chamber and vibrating the substrate during at least a portion of the hardening process. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification