NEUTRAL BEAM ETCHING OF CU-CONTAINING LAYERS IN AN ORGANIC COMPOUND GAS ENVIRONMENT

摘要

A method and apparatus for dry etching pure Cu and Cu-containing layers for manufacturing integrated circuits. The invention uses a directional beam of O-atoms with high kinetic energy to oxidize the Cu and Cu-containing layers, and organic compound etching reagents that react with the oxidized Cu to form volatile Cu-containing etch products. The invention allows for low-temperature, anisotropic etching of pure Cu and Cu-containing layers in accordance with a patterned hard mask or photoresist.

主权项

1. A method for etching a copper-containing layer on a substrate, comprising:
loading a substrate into a processing chamber having a neutral beam source and a substrate holder, the substrate having a copper-containing layer and etch mask formed thereupon; exposing the copper-containing layer to a neutral beam comprising a reacting gas, the reacting gas forming a first copper-containing compound on exposed surfaces of features formed in the copper-containing layer; introducing a reducing gas into processing chamber, proximate the substrate holder, the reducing gas reacting with the first copper-containing compound to form a volatile copper-containing compound; pumping the volatile copper-containing compound from the processing chamber, to form a pattern in the copper-containing layer.