Semiconductor processing method of etching insulating inorganic metal oxide materials and method of cleaning metals from the surface of semiconductor wafers

摘要

In one aspect of the invention, a semiconductor processing method includes the following steps: a) providing a layer of an insulating inorganic metal oxide material atop a semiconductor wafer; b) subjecting the wafer with exposed insulating inorganic metal oxide material to dry etching conditions using a halogen or pseudohalogen based chemistry to react the insulating inorganic metal oxide material into solid halogenated or pseudohalogenated material; and c) reacting the solid halogenated or pseudohalogenated material with a gaseous organic ligand precursor to form a gaseous metal organic coordination complex incorporating the organic ligand precursor and to form a gaseous halogenated or pseudohalogenated species which are expelled from the wafer. In another aspect, a semiconductor processing method of removing or otherwise cleaning metal from a semiconductor wafer includes the following steps: a) subjecting a semiconductor wafer having exposed metal to a dry halogen or pseudohalogen gas to react the metal into solid halogenated or pseudohalogenated material; and b) reacting the solid halogenated or pseudohalogenated material with a gaseous organic ligand precursor to form a gaseous metal organic coordination complex incorporating the organic ligand precursor and metal, and to form a gaseous halogenated or pseudohalogenated species, the complex and species being expelled from the wafer. Alternately, the metal is directly incorporated with the gaseous organic ligand precursor without previous halogenation.