American Air Liquide, Inc.

L'air Liquide, Soci&#xe9;t&#xe9; Anonyme Pour L'etude Et L'exploitation Des Proc&#xe9;d&#xe9;s Georges Claude

Air Liquide Electronics U.S. LP

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Nathan Stafford

Rahul Gupta

Christian Dussarrat

Venkateswara R Pallem

Vincent M Omarjee

Curtis Anderson

Peng Shen

James Royer

Xiangyu Guo

Fabrizio Marchegiani

Vijay Surla

Chih-Yu Hsu

Hui Sun

Jiro Yokota

Ravi Kumar Laxman

Richard J Udischas

Ronald S Inman

Jean-Louis Marc

Axel Soulet

Jinhwan Lee

Olivier Letessier

Francois Doniat

Takashi Teramoto

Ayaka Nishiyama

Asli Ertan

Phong Nguyen

Dmitri Znamensky

Brian Besancon

Paul Jantzen

Kayla Diemoz

Hoyoung Jang

Changgil Son

Anup Doraiswamy

A method for forming an aperture pattern in a substrate, the substrate including a film disposed thereon and a patterned mask layer disposed on the film, comprises 1) exposing the substrate to a vapor of a passivation molecule in a non-plasma condition for a period to form a surface protective layer on the patterned mask layer, 2) exposing the substrate to a plasma activated etch gas and plasma dry etching the substrate to form apertures over the patterned mask layer in the film with the plasma activated etch gas, and 3) repeating step 1) and 2) until a desired aperture pattern is formed in the film, wherein the surface protective layer is also formed on the sidewalls of the apertures formed in the film, wherein the passivation molecule has a boiling point equal to or larger than 20° C.

Etching methods with alternating non-plasma and plasma etching processes

An etching gas mixture includes a nitrogen-containing compound and an inert gas. To manufacture an integrated circuit (IC) device, a silicon-containing film on a substrate is etched by using plasma generated from the etching gas mixture, and thus a hole is formed in the silicon-containing film. The nitrogen-containing compound is selected from a compound represented by Formula 1 and a compound represented by Formula 2:(R)C≡N   [Formula 1]

Etching gas mixture and method of manufacturing integrated circuit device using the same

Cyclic etch methods comprise the steps of: i) exposing a SiN layer covering a structure on a substrate in a reaction chamber to a plasma of hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) to form a polymer layer deposited on the SiN layer that modifies the surface of the SiN layer, the HFC having a formula CHFwhere x=2-5, y>z, the HFC being a saturated or unsaturated, linear or cyclic HFC; ii) exposing the polymer layer deposited on the SiN layer to a plasma of an inert gas, the plasma of the inert gas removing the polymer layer deposited on the SiN layer and the modified surface of the SiN layer on an etch front; and iii) repeating the steps of i) and ii) until the SiN layer on the etch front is selectively removed, thereby forming a substantially vertically straight SiN spacer comprising the SiN layer on the sidewall of the structure.

Method to improve profile control during selective etching of silicon nitride spacers

This disclosure describes an improved etch selectivity of a-C mask during HAR etch processes by using a cyclic etch process. The process has two principle steps: These steps are repeated between a partial etch process (polymer creating) and polymer cleaning step (cycle etching).

Method of running an etch process in higher selectivity to mask and polymer regime by using a cyclic etch process

A method for depositing an iodine-containing film on a substrate material comprises: exposing the substrate material to a vapor of a film-forming composition comprising an iodine-containing precursor having a formula of CHIF, wherein a=1-10, x≥0, y≥1, z≥0, x+y+z=a, 2or 2+2; provided that when a=1, x=2 and z=0, y is not equal to 2, and depositing the iodine-containing film formed by the iodine-containing precursor on the substrate material through a vapor deposition method. The method further comprises exposing the substrate material to a vapor of a co-reactant nitrogen-containing molecule having a general formula CHFNH, where x=1-6, y=0-13, z=0-13, and a=1-2 or CHFN—R, where x=1-6, y=0-13, z=0-13, and Ris a C-Chydrocarbon.

Deposition of iodine-containing carbon films

Disclosed are methods for forming a high aspect ratio (HAR) structure during a HAR etch process in a substrate in a reaction chamber, the method comprising:

High conductive passivation layers and method of forming the same during high aspect ratio plasma etching

A method for storage and supply of a F3NO-free FNO-containing gas comprises the steps of storing the F3NO-free FNO-containing gas in a NiP coated steel cylinder with a polished inner surface, releasing the F3NO-free FNO-containing gas from the cylinder to a manifold assembly by activating a cylinder valve in fluid communication with the cylinder and the manifold assembly, de-pressurizing the F3NO-free FNO-containing gas by activating a pressure regulator in the manifold assembly so as to divide the manifold assembly into a first pressure zone upstream of the pressure regulator and a second pressure zone downstream of the pressure regulator, and feeding the de-pressurized F3NO-free FNO-containing gas to a target reactor downstream of the second pressure zone.

Systems and methods for storage and supply of F3NO-free FNO gases and F3NO-free FNO gas mixtures for semiconductor processes

Methods for purification of a fluorocarbon or hydrofluorocarbon containing at least one undesired halocarbon impurities comprise flowing the fluorocarbon or hydrofluorocarbon through at least one adsorbent beds to selectively adsorb the at least one undesired halocarbon impurities through physical adsorption and/or chemical adsorption, wherein the at least one adsorbent beds contain a metal oxide supported on an adsorbent in an inert atmosphere.

Selective adsorption of halocarbon impurities containing cl, br and i in fluorocarbons or hydrofluorocarbons using adsorbent supported metal oxide

Cyclic etch methods comprise the steps of: i) exposing a SiN layer covering a structure on a substrate in a reaction chamber to a plasma of hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) to form a polymer layer deposited on the SiN layer that modifies the surface of the SiN layer, the HFC having a formula CHFwhere x=2-5, y&#x3e;z, the HFC being a saturated or unsaturated, linear or cyclic HFC; ii) exposing the polymer layer deposited on the SiN layer to a plasma of an inert gas, the plasma of the inert gas removing the polymer layer deposited on the SiN layer and the modified surface of the SiN layer on an etch front; and iii) repeating the steps of i) and ii) until the SiN layer on the etch front is selectively removed, thereby forming a substantially vertically straight SiN spacer comprising the SiN layer on the sidewall of the structure.

A method for etching silicon-containing films is disclosed. The method includes the steps of introducing a vapor of an iodine-containing etching compound into a reaction chamber containing a silicon-containing film on a substrate, wherein the iodine-containing etching compound has the formula CHFI, wherein a=1-3, x=0-6, y=1-7, z=1-2, x+y+z=4 when a=1, x+y+z=4 or 6 when a=2, and x+y+z=6 or 8 when a=3; introducing an inert gas into the reaction chamber; and activating a plasma to produce an activated iodine-containing etching compound capable of etching the silicon-containing film from the substrate.

Iodine-containing compounds for etching semiconductor structures

Etching gases are disclosed for plasma etching channel holes, gate trenches, staircase contacts, capacitor holes, contact holes, etc., in Si-containing layers on a substrate and plasma etching methods of using the same. The etching gases are trans-1,1,1,4,4,4-hexafluoro-2-butene; cis-1,1,1,4,4,4-hexafluoro-2-butene; hexafluoroisobutene; hexafluorocyclobutane (trans-1,1,2,2,3,4); pentafluorocyclobutane (1,1,2,2,3-); tetrafluorocyclobutane (1,1,2,2-); or hexafluorocyclobutane (cis-1,1,2,2,3,4). The etching gases may provide improved selectivity between the Si-containing layers and mask material, less damage to channel region, a straight vertical profile, and reduced bowing in pattern high aspect ratio structures.

Fluorocarbon molecules for high aspect ratio oxide etch

Methods for minimizing sidewall damage during low k etch processes are disclosed. The methods etch the low k layers f using the plasma activated vapor of an organofluorine compound having a formula selected from the group consisting of N&#x2261;C&#x2014;R; (N@C&#x2014;)&#x2014;(R)&#x2014;(&#x2014;C&#x2261;N); Rx[-C&#x2550;N(Rz)]y; and R(3-a)-N&#x2014;Ha, wherein a=1-2, x=1-2, y=1-2, z=0-1, x+z=1-3, and each R independently has the formula HaFbCc with a=0-11, b=0-11, and c=0-5.

Methods for minimizing sidewall damage during low k etch processes

Replacement chemistries for the cCFpassivation gas in the Bosch etch process and processes for using the same are disclosed. These chemistries have the formula CHF, with 1&#x2264;x&#x3c;7, 1&#x2264;y&#x2264;13, and 1&#x2264;z&#x2264;13. The replacement chemistries may reduce RIE lag associated with deep silicon aperture etching.

Growing community of inventors

Damascus, OR, United States of America

Nathan Stafford