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:
Jul. 20, 1999
Filed:
Oct. 03, 1997
Applicant:
Inventor:
Ramiro Solis, Bandera, TX (US);
Assignee:
Vlsi Technology, Inc., San Jose, CA (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H01L / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
438725 ; 438704 ; 438963 ; 438637 ; 438639 ; 438669 ; 438720 ; 134-11 ; 134-12 ; 134-13 ; 216 17 ;
Abstract
A method of plasma etching photoresist and sidewall polymer with an etch gas mixture comprising a fluorine containing gas (CF.sub.4 or NF.sub.3) and H.sub.2 O demonstrating very aggressive ashrate of photoresist but maintains an exceptionally low etch rate for titanium nitride and other metals is provided. The very low TiN etch rate permits the inventive method to effectively breakdown sidewall polymer without removing any significant amount of these metals. The invention is particularly suited for stripping sidewall polymer from etched via holes and from etched metal lines. Vias fabricated with this technique exhibit exceptionally low resistance.