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:
May. 13, 2025
Filed:
Jan. 21, 2022
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited, Hsinchu, TW;
Li-Wei Chu, New Taipei, TW;
Ying-Chi Su, Hsinchu, TW;
Yu-Kai Chen, Taipei, TW;
Wei-Yip Loh, Hsinchu, TW;
Hung-Hsu Chen, Tainan, TW;
Chih-Wei Chang, Hsin-Chu, TW;
Ming-Hsing Tsai, Chu-Pei, TW;
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd., Hsinchu, TW;
Abstract
An ammonium fluoride gas may be used to form a protection layer for one or more interlayer dielectric layers, one or more insulating caps, and/or one or more source/drain regions of a semiconductor device during a pre-clean etch process. The protection layer can be formed through an oversupply of nitrogen trifluoride during the pre-clean etch process. The oversupply of nitrogen trifluoride causes an increased formation of ammonium fluoride, which coats the interlayer dielectric layer(s), the insulating cap(s), and/or the source/drain region(s) with a thick protection layer. The protection layer protects the interlayer dielectric layer(s), the insulating cap(s), and/or the source/drain region(s) during the pre-clean process from being etched by fluorine ions formed during the pre-clean process.