METHOD OF ETCHING METAL LAYER

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method of etching a copper layer while forming a protection layer containing carbon on a mask, with which it is possible to remove the protection layer formed at the time of the etching.SOLUTION: In an embodiment, a method of etching a metal layer is provided which includes the steps of: (a) etching a metal layer of a workpiece through etching based on ion sputtering while forming a protection layer containing carbon on a surface of a mask for the workpiece (step (a)); (b) exposing the workpiece to oxygen plasma after the step of etching the metal layer (step (b)); and (c) exposing the workpiece to hexafluoroacetylacetone after the step of exposing the workpiece to the oxygen plasma (step (c)).