Winbond Electronics Corporation

United Microelectronics Corp.

Yi-Yu Hsu

Yu-Cheng Tung

Tri-Rung Yew

Tong-Yu Chen

Kuo-Chen Wang

Jong-Bor Wang

Chii-Ming Shiah

Yao-Ting Shao

Hsein-Ta Chung

Hung-Yueh Liao

Kao-Tsai Tsai

An alternating phase shift mask. The alternating phase shift mask includes a transparent substrate, a light-shielding layer disposed on the transparent substrate to define a transparent array consisting of a plurality of first phase rows and a plurality of second phase rows alternately interposed between the first phase rows. The alternating phase shift mask further comprises a phase interference enhancement feature disposed a predetermined distance from the outermost row of the transparent array, wherein the phases of the phase interference enhancement feature and the outermost row are reverse.

Alternating phase shift mask

The present invention uses a double exposure and double etching method to improve critical dimension uniformity. A coating layer is formed on a wafer that includes a first area and a second area. The first area and the second area are separately patterned with different processing conditions. By means of this two-stage patterning, the CD uniformity between wafer center and wafer edge is successfully improved over the conventional single-stage patterning process. The fabrication yield is thus enhanced.

Process for improving critical dimension uniformity

The present invention relates to a method of removing a photo-resist layer from a semiconductor wafer. The semiconductor wafer comprises an inter-metal dielectric layer (IMD), and a photo-resist layer positioned on the IMD. The method comprises performing a dry cleaning process by injecting a nitrogen-containing gas into an oxygen-free environment and utilizing a plasma reaction to remove most of the photo-resist layer, and performing a wet cleaning process to completely remove the photo-resist layer.

Method of removing a photo-resist layer on a semiconductor wafer

Growing community of inventors

Taipei, Taiwan

Yi-Yu Hsu