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.

Date of Patent:
Dec. 23, 2025

Filed:

Dec. 15, 2023
Applicant:

Tokyo Electron Limited, Tokyo, JP;

Inventor:

Kate Abel, Austin, TX (US);

Assignee:
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H01L 21/311 (2006.01); H01L 21/02 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
H01L 21/31111 (2013.01); H01L 21/02181 (2013.01); H01L 21/02189 (2013.01); H01L 21/02227 (2013.01); H01L 21/31144 (2013.01);
Abstract

The present disclosure provides a new wet atomic layer etch (ALE) process for etching high-k dielectric materials. More specifically, the present disclosure provides various embodiments of methods that utilize new etch chemistries for etching transition metal oxide dielectric materials in a cyclic wet ALE process. In the example embodiments provided herein, new etch chemistries and methods are provided for etching zirconium dioxide (ZrO), hafnium dioxide (HfO) and HfZrOdielectrics in a cyclic wet ALE process. However, the wet ALE techniques described herein are not strictly limited to the example materials discussed herein and can be applied to other transition metals and transition metal oxides.


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