PROTECTIVE SILICON OXIDE PATTERNING

摘要

A method of patterning a substrate is described and include two possible layers which may be easily integrated into a photoresist patterning process flow and avoid an observed photoresist peeling problems. A conformal carbon layer or a conformal silicon-carbon-nitrogen layer may be formed between an underlying silicon oxide layer and an overlying photoresist layer. Either inserted layer may avoid remotely-excited fluorine etchants from diffusing through the photoresist and chemically degrading the silicon oxide. The conformal carbon layer may be removed at the same time as the photoresist and the conformal silicon-carbon-nitrogen layer may be removed at the same time as the silicon oxide, limiting process complexity.

主权项

1. A method of patterning a substrate, the method comprising:
forming a silicon oxide layer on the substrate; forming a conformal carbon layer on the silicon oxide; forming a photoresist layer on the conformal carbon layer; patterning the photoresist layer with a pattern to form a patterned photoresist layer, wherein the operation of patterning the photoresist layer also patterns the conformal carbon layer with the pattern to form a patterned conformal carbon layer; etching the pattern into the silicon oxide layer using both the patterned photoresist layer and the patterned conformal carbon layer as the mask, wherein etching the pattern into the silicon oxide layer comprises forming a patterned silicon oxide layer from the silicon oxide layer; removing the patterned photoresist layer and the patterned carbon layer in a single operation; patterning the substrate using the patterned silicon oxide layer; and removing the patterned silicon oxide layer.