A HARDMASK PROCESS FOR FORMING A REVERSE TONE IMAGE

摘要

The present invention relates to a process for forming an reverse tone image on a device comprising; a) forming an absorbing underlayer on a substrate; b) forming a coating of a positive photoresist over the underlayer; c) forming a photoresist pattern; d) treating the first photoresist pattern with a hardening compound, thereby forming a hardened photoresist pattern; e) forming a silicon coating over the hardened photoresist pattern from a silicon coating composition; f) dry etching the silicon coating to remove the silicon coating till the silicon coating has about the same thickness as the photoresist pattern; and, g) dry etching to remove the photoresist and the underlayer, thereby forming a trench beneath the original position of the photoresist pattern. The invention further relates to a product of the above process and to a microelectronic device made from using the above process.