Applied Materials, Inc.

Lam Research Corporation

Other

Living Media, LLC

Jeffrey S Marks

Kenneth S Collins

David Walter Groechel

Peter R Keswick

Michael Robert Rice

Rajinder Dhindsa

Chan-Lon Yang

Craig A Roderick

Thorsten B Lill

Samantha SiamHwa Tan

Wenbing Yang

Keren Jacobs Kanarik

Tetsuya Ishikawa

John R Trow

Dennis Michael Hausmann

Gerald Z Yin

Taeseung Kim

Harmeet Singh

Nicolas J Bright

Jerry Yuen-Kui Wong

Jay D Pinson, Ii

Meihua Shen

Yang Pan

Masato M Toshima

Richard Alan Gottscho

Douglas Buchberger

Jerry Yuen Wong

Jon Mohn

Alexander Kabansky

Adrien Lavoie

Artur Kolics

Bhadri N Varadarajan

George Andrew Antonelli

Sirish K Reddy

Thomas Joseph Knisley

Lawrence Chang-Lai Lei

Kam S Law

S M Reza Sadjadi

Robert D Tolles

David N Wang

Spyros J Lazaris

Yuen-Kui (Jerry) Wong

Richard Janek

Tadeusz Peter Matuchniak

Nicholas J Dauderman

Richard Stephan Wise

Dan Maydan

Lawrence C Lei

Samantha S H Tan

Jian Ding

William L Guthrie

Joshua Chiu-Wing Tsui

Samantha Siamhwa Tan

Tsungnan Cheng

Prithu Sharma

Clifford Duvernois

Eric A Hudson

Eric H Lenz

Felix Leib Kozakevich

Reza Arghavani

Mukund Srinivasan

Jengyi Yu

Lumin Li

Gerald Zheyao Yin

Brian K McMillin

Norm Shendon

Aaron Eppler

Camelia Rusu

Zhisong Huang

Boris Volosskiy

Benjamin A Bonner

Semyon Spektor

Daniel Peter

Victor Belitsky

Da Li

William R Bartlett

Timothy William Weidman

Raj Dhindsa

James C Nystrom

Dave Trussell

Yiwen Fan

Kazuo Nojiri

Chan Lon Yang

Ivan A Ocanada

Dan Mayden

Tomihito Ohba

Joshua C-w Tsui

Samantha Sh Tan

Jim Tietz

Rose K Marks

John R Espenshied

Reza S M Sadjadi

A method for etching features in a stack below a patterned mask in an etch chamber is provided. The stack is cooled with a coolant with a coolant temperature below −20° C. An etch gas is flowed into the etch chamber. A plasma is generated from the etch gas. Features are selectively etched into the stack with respect to the patterned mask.

Plasma etching chemistries of high aspect ratio features in dielectrics

Development of resists are useful, for example, to form a patterning mask in the context of high-resolution patterning. Development can be accomplished using a halide-containing chemistry such as a hydrogen halide. A metal-containing resist film may be deposited on a semiconductor substrate using a dry or wet deposition technique. The resist film may be an EUV-sensitive organo-metal oxide or organo-metal-containing thin film resist. After exposure, the photopatterned metal-containing resist is developed using wet or dry development.

Photoresist development with halide chemistries

A method for etching features in a stack below a patterned mask in an etch chamber is provided. The stack is cooled with a coolant with a coolant temperature below &#x2212;20&#xb0; C. An etch gas is flowed into the etch chamber. A plasma is generated from the etch gas. Features are selectively etched into the stack with respect to the patterned mask.

Vacuum-integrated photoresist-less methods and apparatuses for forming metal hardmasks can provide sub-30 nm patterning resolution. A metal-containing (e.g., metal salt or organometallic compound) film that is sensitive to a patterning agent is deposited on a semiconductor substrate. The metal-containing film is then patterned directly (i.e., without the use of a photoresist) by exposure to the patterning agent in a vacuum ambient to form the metal mask. For example, the metal-containing film is photosensitive and the patterning is conducted using sub-30 nm wavelength optical lithography, such as EUV lithography.

Vacuum-integrated hardmask processes and apparatus

Provided herein are methods and related apparatus that facilitate patterning by performing highly non-conformal (directional) deposition on patterned structures. The methods involve depositing films on a patterned structure, such as a hard mask. The deposition may be both substrate-selective such that the films have high etch selectivity with respect to an underlying material to be etched and pattern-selective such that the films are directionally deposited to replicate the pattern of the patterned structure. In some embodiments, the deposition is performed in the same chamber as a subsequent etch is performed. In some embodiments, the deposition may be performed in a separate chamber (e.g., a PECVD deposition chamber) that is connected to the etch chamber by a vacuum transfer chamber. The deposition may be performed prior to or at selected intermittences during at etch process. In some embodiments, the deposition involves multiple cycles of a deposition and treatment process.

Directional deposition on patterned structures

Apparatuses for etching metal by depositing a material reactive with a metal to be etched and a halogen to form a volatile species and exposing the substrate to a halogen-containing gas and activation gas to etch the substrate are provided. Deposited materials may include silicon, germanium, titanium, carbon, tin, and combinations thereof. Apparatuses are suitable for fabricating MRAM structures and may be used to integrate ALD and ALE processes without breaking vacuum.

Dry plasma etch method to pattern MRAM stack

A media management framework comprises an integrated architecture and online networking service for aggregating a user's various media files to enable a customized distribution of those media files. User media files are processed, archived, aggregated, and distributed for display in customized story streams. Additional media files are pulled from other sources, such as social media feeds and the public domain, to create a customized distribution and a comprehensive user experience centered on a user's media files based on specified user preferences. The customized distribution also includes modifying story streams based on learning of additional user preferences from continued user interaction and continuously grouping inference associations from one or more of activities, people, objects, times, dates, and locations.

Integrated architecture and network for arrangement and delivery of media

Methods are provided for integrating atomic layer etch and atomic layer deposition by performing both processes in the same chamber or reactor. Methods involve sequentially alternating between atomic layer etch and atomic layer deposition processes to prevent feature degradation during etch, improve selectivity, and encapsulate sensitive layers of a semiconductor substrate.

Integrating atomic scale processes: ALD (atomic layer deposition) and ALE (atomic layer etch)

Methods of etching metal by depositing a material reactive with a metal to be etched and a halogen to form a volatile species and exposing the substrate to a halogen-containing gas and activation gas to etch the substrate are provided. Deposited materials may include silicon, germanium, titanium, carbon, tin, and combinations thereof. Methods are suitable for fabricating MRAM structures and may involve integrating ALD and ALE processes without breaking vacuum.

Methods of etching and smoothening films by exposing to a halogen-containing plasma and an inert plasma within a bias window in cycles are provided. Methods are suitable for etching and smoothening films of various materials in the semiconductor industry and are also applicable to applications in optics and other industries.

Ale smoothness: in and outside semiconductor industry

Integrating atomic scale processes: ALD (atomic layer deposition) and ale (atomic layer etch)

Provided herein are methods of atomic layer etching (ALE) of metals including tungsten (W) and cobalt (Co). The methods disclosed herein provide precise etch control down to the atomic level, with etching a low as 1 &#x212b; to 10 &#x212b; per cycle in some embodiments. In some embodiments, directional control is provided without damage to the surface of interest. The methods may include cycles of a modification operation to form a reactive layer, followed by a removal operation to etch only this modified layer. The modification is performed without spontaneously etching the surface of the metal.

Atomic layer etching of tungsten and other metals

Provided herein are ALE methods of removing III-V materials such as gallium nitride (GaN) and related apparatus. In some embodiments, the methods involve exposing the III-V material to a chlorine-containing plasma without biasing the substrate to form a modified III-V surface layer; and applying a bias voltage to the substrate while exposing the modified III-V surface layer to a plasma to thereby remove the modified III-V surface layer. The disclosed methods are suitable for a wide range of applications, including etching processes for trenches and holes, fabrication of HEMTs, fabrication of LEDs, and improved selectivity in etching processes.

Atomic layer etching of GaN and other III-V materials

Growing community of inventors

Newport Coast, CA, United States of America

Jeffrey S Marks