Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Comp. Ltd.

Ming-Yeon Hung

Chih-Wei Hsu

Jong-I Mou

Andy Tsen

Ming-Yu Fan

Fa-Yuan Chang

Weng-Liang Fang

Wang Jo Fei

Janet Yu

Chang-Ching Kin

A method of advanced process control (APC) for semiconductor fabrication is provided. The method includes providing a present wafer to be processed by a semiconductor processing tool, providing first data of previous wafers that have been processed by the semiconductor processing tool, decoupling noise from the first data to generate second data, evaluating an APC performance based on proximity of the second data to a target data, determining a control parameter based on the APC performance, and controlling the semiconductor processing tool with the control parameter to process the present wafer.

Method and system for tuning advanced process control parameters

A method for etching a silicon layer within a microelectronics fabrication. There is first provided a substrate employed within a microelectronics fabrication. There is then formed over the substrate a blanket silicon layer. There is then formed upon the blanket silicon layer a blanket silicon containing hard mask layer, where the blanket silicon containing hard mask layer is formed from a silicon containing material chosen from the group of silicon containing materials consisting of silicon oxide materials, silicon nitride materials, silicon oxynitride materials and composites of silicon oxide materials, silicon nitride materials and silicon oxynitride materials. There is then formed upon the blanket silicon containing hard mask layer a patterned photoresist layer. There is then etched through a first plasma etch method the blanket silicon containing hard mask layer to form a patterned silicon containing hard mask layer while employing the patterned photoresist layer as a first etch mask layer. The first plasma etch method employs a first etchant gas composition comprising a first fluorine and carbon containing etchant source gas and a first bromine containing etchant source gas. Finally, there is then etched in-situ through a second plasma etch method the blanket silicon layer to form an at least partially etched silicon layer while employing the patterned photoresist layer and the patterned silicon containing hard mask layer as a second etch mask. The second plasma etch method employs a second etchant gas composition comprising a second fluorine and carbon containing etchant source gas, a second bromine containing etchant source gas and a chlorine containing etchant source gas.

In-situ sequential silicon containing hard mask layer/silicon layer

A method is provided for the removal of the surface layer of the residual photoresist mask pattern used for metal subtractive etching which uses the same reactor equipment but employs reactive fluorine-containing gases to form volatile compounds with the surface layer, so that subsequently a conventional oxygen plasma stripping process can be used for complete resist residue removal without requiring excessive temperature exposure of the integrated circuit devices.

Method for removal of photoresist residue after dry metal etch

Growing community of inventors

Hsin-chu, Taiwan

Ming-Yeon Hung