Cypress Semiconductor Corporation

Prabhu Goplana

Mehran G Sedigh

Saurabh Dutta Chowdhury

Chan Lon Yang

According to one embodiment, a method () may include forming a first insulating layer over a semiconductor substrate (step), forming a hard mask layer (step), and forming a photoresist etch mask having a thickness of less than about 4,000 angstroms (step). Such a reduced thickness may conventionally lead to uncontrolled etching and/or may require multiple steps to ensure feature formation. A method () may further include etching an opening through at least one half the thickness of the hard mask layer to form a hard mask (step) and etching through a first insulating layer without first removing a photoresist layer (step). Such etching can essentially consume a photoresist layer, however controllability can be maintained as etching may continue with a hard mask in place.

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Fremont, CA, United States of America

Prabhu Goplana