The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 05, 2021
Filed:
Apr. 14, 2020
Applicant:
Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Inventors:
Yihong Chen, San Jose, CA (US);
Ziqing Duan, San Jose, CA (US);
Abhijit Basu Mallick, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Kelvin Chan, San Ramon, CA (US);
Assignee:
Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H01L 21/4763 (2006.01); H01L 21/768 (2006.01); H01L 21/3213 (2006.01); H01L 21/02 (2006.01); H01L 27/11582 (2017.01); H01L 27/11556 (2017.01); H01L 21/285 (2006.01); H01L 23/532 (2006.01); H01L 21/311 (2006.01); H01L 23/528 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
H01L 21/76877 (2013.01); H01L 21/02175 (2013.01); H01L 21/02244 (2013.01); H01L 21/28568 (2013.01); H01L 21/31122 (2013.01); H01L 21/32135 (2013.01); H01L 21/76843 (2013.01); H01L 21/76888 (2013.01); H01L 23/528 (2013.01); H01L 23/53266 (2013.01); H01L 27/11556 (2013.01); H01L 27/11582 (2013.01);
Abstract
Methods of wordline separation in semiconductor devices (e.g., 3D-NAND) are described. A metal film is deposited in the wordlines and on the surface of a stack of spaced oxide layers. The metal film is removed by high temperature oxidation and etching of the oxide or low temperature atomic layer etching by oxidizing the surface and etching the oxide in a monolayer fashion. After removal of the metal overburden, the wordlines are filled with the metal film.