Lam Research Corporation

Charlie Lee

Francis Ko

Sandy Chen

Richard Chen

A method for increasing etching selectivity of a developed silicon-containing photoresist layer on a non-silicon containing photoresist layer on a substrate. The developed silicon-containing photoresist layer includes polymer chains containing silicon. Next, the developed silicon-containing photoresist layer and uncovered portions of the non-silicon containing photoresist layer are exposed to an ultraviolet (UV) light, where the UV light emanates from a UV generating agent, such as neon, xenon, helium, hydrogen, or krypton gas in an inert gas (e.g., argon, etc.) plasma. A top portion of the developed silicon-containing photoresist layer is then converted to a hardened layer, where the hardened layer is created by cross-linking the polymer chains containing silicon and the cross-linking is activated by the UV light. Next, an etch is performed on the uncovered portions of the non-silicon containing photoresist layer and the substrate using the hardened layer.

Method for argon plasma induced ultraviolet light curing step for increasing silicon-containing photoresist selectivity

Provided is a method for increasing an etching selectivity of photoresist material. The method initiates with providing a substrate with a developed photoresist layer. The developed photoresist layer on the substrate is formulated to contain a hardening agent. Next, the substrate is exposed to a gas, where the gas is formulated to interact with the hardening agent. A portion of the developed photoresist layer is then converted to a hardened layer where the hardened layer is created by an interaction of the hardening agent with the gas. Some notable advantages of the discussed methods of increasing the selectivity of a photoresist include improved etch profile control. Additionally, by combining fabrication steps such as the hardening of the photoresist in an etch chamber, downstream etching processes may be performed without having to transfer the wafer to an additional chamber, thereby improving wafer throughput while minimizing handling.

Growing community of inventors

Hsin-Chu, Taiwan

Charlie Lee