Lam Research Corporation

Novellus Systems Incorporated

Asml Netherlands B.v.

Nader Shamma

Richard Stephan Wise

Jengyi Yu

Yang Pan

Samantha SiamHwa Tan

Hui-Jung Wu

Samantha S H Tan

Boris Volosskiy

Yu Jiang

Girish Anant Dixit

Adrien Lavoie

Shankar Swaminathan

Frank Loren Pasquale

Thomas W Mountsier

Sirish K Reddy

Akhil N Singhal

Dustin Zachary Austin

Chunhai Ji

Johannes Catharinus Hubertus Mulkens

Bart Jan Van Schravendijk

Patrick A Van Cleemput

Michael Kubis

Marinus Jochemsen

Jun Xue

Arpan Pravin Mahorowala

Daniel Peter

Da Li

Bart K Van Schravendijk

Gregory Blachut

Younghee Lee

Ekaterina Mikhailovna Viatkina

Andrew Liang

Rich Wise

Melisa Luca

Samantha Sh Tan

Hongxiang Zhao

Ji Yeon Kim

Michelle Margarita Flores Espinosa

Donald Schlosser

Don Schlosser

Liesbeth Reijnen

Process condition management facilitates the combination of dry development and etching into a single process chamber; eliminating the necessity for a post-dry development bake step during semiconductor manufacturing. Methods and apparatuses for rapidly instituting a large drop in process chamber pressure allow thermal dry development and an Oflash treatment or thermal dry development and plasma hardmask open operations to take place without wafer transfer.

Integration of dry development and etch processes for EUV patterning in a single process chamber

A method of processing a substrate includes: providing a substrate having one or more mandrels comprising a mandrel material, wherein a layer of a spacer material coats horizontal surfaces and sidewalls of the one or more mandrels; and etching and completely removing the layer of the spacer material from the horizontal surfaces of the one or more mandrels and thereby exposing the mandrel material, without completely removing the spacer material residing at the sidewalls of the one or more mandrels. The etching includes exposing the substrate to a plasma formed using a mixture comprising a first gas and a polymer-forming gas, and wherein the etching comprises forming a polymer on the substrate. Polymer-forming gas may include carbon (C) and hydrogen (H).

Tin oxide films in semiconductor device manufacturing

Tin oxide film on a semiconductor substrate is etched selectively in a presence of photoresist by exposing the substrate to at least one of hydrogen-based chemistry and chlorine-based chemistry. In some implementations, a method of processing a semiconductor substrate starts by providing a semiconductor substrate having a patterned photoresist layer overlying a tin oxide layer. Next, openings are etched in the tin oxide layer using the patterned photoresist layer as a mask, and using at least one of a hydrogen-based etch chemistry and a chlorine-based etch chemistry. After the openings have been etched in the tin oxide layer, the photoresist layer is removed using an oxygen-based etch chemistry.

A method for patterning a substrate includes providing a substrate, and depositing a multi-layer stack including N layers on the substrate. N is an integer greater than one. The N layers include N mean free paths for secondary electrons, respectively. The method includes depositing a photoresist layer on the multi-layer stack, wherein the N mean free paths converge in the photoresist layer. Another method for patterning a substrate includes providing a substrate and depositing a layer on the substrate. The layer includes varying mean free paths for secondary electrons. The method includes depositing a photoresist layer on the layer. The varying mean free paths for secondary electrons converge in the photoresist layer.

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography using an intervening layer or a multi-layer stack with varying mean free paths for secondary electron generation

Methods and apparatuses for performing cycles of aspect ratio dependent deposition and aspect ratio independent etching on lithographically patterned substrates are described herein. Methods are suitable for reducing variation of feature depths and/or aspect ratios between features formed and partially formed by lithography, some partially formed features being partially formed due to stochastic effects. Methods and apparatuses are suitable for processing a substrate having a photoresist after extreme ultraviolet lithography. Some methods involve cycles of deposition by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition and directional etching by atomic layer etching.

Eliminating yield impact of stochastics in lithography

Tin oxide film on a semiconductor substrate is etched selectively with an etch selectivity of at least 10 in a presence of silicon (Si), carbon (C), or a carbon-containing material (e.g., photoresist) by exposing the substrate to a process gas comprising hydrogen (H) and a hydrocarbon (e.g., at a hydrogen/hydrocarbon ratio of at least 5), such that a carbon-containing polymer is formed on the substrate. In some embodiments an apparatus for processing a semiconductor substrate includes a process chamber configured for housing the semiconductor substrate and a controller having program instructions on a non-transitory medium for causing selective etching of a tin oxide layer on a substrate in a presence of silicon, carbon, or a carbon-containing material by exposing the substrate to a plasma formed in a process gas that includes Hand a hydrocarbon.

Tin oxide film on a semiconductor substrate is etched selectively in a presence of silicon (Si), carbon (C), or a carbon-containing material (e.g., photoresist) by exposing the substrate to a process gas comprising hydrogen (H) and a hydrocarbon. The hydrocarbon significantly improves the etch selectivity. In some embodiments an apparatus for processing a semiconductor substrate includes a process chamber configured for housing the semiconductor substrate and a controller having program instructions on a non-transitory medium for causing selective etching of a tin oxide layer on a substrate in a presence of silicon, carbon, or a carbon-containing material by exposing the substrate to a plasma formed in a process gas that includes Hand a hydrocarbon.

A method, and associated apparatus and computer program, to determine corrections for a parameter of interest, such as critical dimension, of a patterning process. The method includes determining an exposure control correction for an exposure control parameter and, optionally, determining a process control correction for a process control parameter, based upon a measurement of the parameter of interest of a structure, and an exposure control relationship and a process control relationship. The exposure control relationship describes the dependence of the parameter of interest on the exposure control parameter and the process control relationship describes the dependence of the parameter of interest on the process control parameter. The exposure control correction and process control correction may be co-optimized to minimize variation of the parameter of interest of subsequent exposed and processed structures relative to a target parameter of interest.

Method of controlling a patterning process, lithographic apparatus, metrology apparatus lithographic cell and associated computer program

A method for improving EUV lithographic patterning of SnOlayers is provided. One method embodiment includes introducing a hydrophobic surface treatment compound into a processing chamber for modifying a surface of an SnOlayer. The modification increases the hydrophobicity of the SnOlayer. The method also provides for depositing a photoresist layer on the surface of the SnOlayer via spin coating. The modification of the surface of the SnOlayer enhances adhesion of contact between the photoresist and the SnOlayer during and after spin coating.

Modification of SNOsurface for EUV lithography

Methods of and apparatuses for processing substrates having carbon-containing material using atomic layer etch and selective deposition are provided. Methods involve exposing a carbon-containing material on a substrate to an oxidant and igniting a first plasma to modify a surface of the substrate and exposing the modified surface to a second plasma at a bias power to remove the modified surface. Methods also involve selectively depositing a second carbon-containing material onto the substrate using a precursor having a chemical formula of CH, where x and y are integers greater than or equal to 1. ALE and selective deposition may be performed without breaking vacuum.

Etching substrates using ALE and selective deposition

Tin oxide films are used as spacers and hardmasks in semiconductor device manufacturing. In one method, tin oxide layer is formed conformally over sidewalls and horizontal surfaces of protruding features on a substrate. A passivation layer is then formed over tin oxide on the sidewalls, and tin oxide is then removed from the horizontal surfaces of the protruding features without being removed at the sidewalls of the protruding features. The material of the protruding features is then removed while leaving the tin oxide that resided at the sidewalls of the protruding features, thereby forming tin oxide spacers. Hydrogen-based and chlorine-based dry etch chemistries are used to selectively etch tin oxide in a presence of a variety of materials. In another method a patterned tin oxide hardmask layer is formed on a substrate by forming a patterned layer over an unpatterned tin oxide and transferring the pattern to the tin oxide.

Provided herein are methods and related apparatus to smooth the edges of features patterned using extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography. In some embodiments, at least one cycle of depositing passivation layer that preferentially collects in crevices of a feature leaving protuberances exposed, and etching the feature to remove the exposed protuberances, thereby smoothing the feature, is performed. The passivation material may preferentially collect in the crevices due to a higher surface to volume ratio in the crevices than in the protuberances. In some embodiments, local critical dimension uniformity (LCDU), a measure of roughness in contact holes, is reduced. In some embodiments, at least one cycle of depositing a thin layer in a plurality of holes formed in photoresist, the holes having different CDs, wherein the thin layer preferentially deposits in the larger CD holes, and anisotropically removing the thin layer to remove it at the bottoms of the holes, is performed.

Low roughness EUV lithography

Methods of and apparatuses for processing substrates having carbon-containing material using atomic layer deposition and selective deposition are provided. Methods involve exposing a carbon-containing material on a substrate to an oxidant and igniting a first plasma at a first bias power to modify a surface of the substrate and exposing the modified surface to an inert plasma at a second bias power to remove the modified surface. Methods also involve selectively depositing a second carbon-containing material onto the substrate. ALE and selective deposition may be performed without breaking vacuum.

Etching substrates using ale and selective deposition

Growing community of inventors

Cupertino, CA, United States of America

Nader Shamma