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:
Oct. 08, 2024
Filed:
Jun. 24, 2021
Lam Research Corporation, Fremont, CA (US);
Patrick A. van Cleemput, San Jose, CA (US);
Seshasayee Varadarajan, Lake Oswego, OR (US);
Bart J. van Schravendijk, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Lam Research Corporation, Fremont, CA (US);
Abstract
Tin oxide films are used to create air gaps during semiconductor substrate processing. Tin oxide films, disposed between exposed layers of other materials, such as SiOand SiN can be selectively etched using a plasma formed in an H-containing process gas. The etching creates a recessed feature in place of the tin oxide between the surrounding materials. A third material, such as SiOis deposited over the resulting recessed feature without fully filling the recessed feature, forming an air gap. A method for selectively etching tin oxide in a presence of SiO, SiC, SiN, SiOC, SiNO, SiCNO, or SiCN, includes, in some embodiments, contacting the substrate with a plasma formed in a process gas comprising at least about 50% H. Etching of tin oxide can be performed without using an external bias at the substrate and is preferably performed at a temperature of less than about 100° C.