METHOD OF LASER ETCHING OF SILICON DIOXIDE

摘要

A method of using a laser (16) to etch patterns in a thin layer of amorphous silicon (14) which is used as a mask for the etching of a layer of silicon dioxide (12) in integrated circuit fabrication. The laser is used to etch the amorphous silicon in the presence of halogen ions. Subsequently, the amorphous silicon is used as a mask to plasma etch the silicon dioxide. Alternate embodiments of the method etch a metal region on a substrate, or a silicon dioxide layer on a metal region, both using an etched amorphous silicon mask. An alternate embodiment uses a double masking technique to etch an amorphous silicon mask, which is used to etch a silicon dioxide hard mask, which is used to etch a metal region.