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:
Apr. 16, 1991
Filed:
May. 04, 1989
Narcinda R Lerner, Woodside, CA (US);
Theodore J Wydeven, Jr, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Abstract
A method for etching or removing polymers, photoresists, and organic contaminants from a substrate is disclosed. The method includes creating a more reactive gas species by producing a plasma discharge in a reactive gas such as oxygen and contacting the resulting gas species with a sacrificial solid organic material (13A) such as polyethylene or poly(vinyl fluoride), producing a highly reactive gas species, which in turn etches the starting polymer, organic contaminant, or photoresist (13). The sample to be etched is located away from the plasma glow discharge region (11) so as to avoid damaging the substrate by exposure to high-energy particles and electric fields encountered in that region. Greatly increased etching rates are obtained. This method is highly effective for etching polymers such as polyimides and photoresists that are otherwise difficult or slow to etch downstream from an electric discharge in a reactive gas.