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. 17, 2000
Filed:
Mar. 30, 1998
Linda N Marquez, Fremont, CA (US);
Janet M Flanner, Union City, CA (US);
Lam Research Corporation, Fremont, CA (US);
Abstract
A plasma, formed from a mixture of C.sub.4 F.sub.8 and CH.sub.2 F.sub.2, is used to etch a self-aligned contact, the self-aligned contact being an opening in the oxide layer, the opening being aligned with an opening in an underlying nitride layer and extending to a substrate underlying the nitride. The mixture of C.sub.4 F.sub.8 and CH.sub.2 F.sub.2 provides a high ratio of oxide etch rate to nitride etch rate so that the etching is completed without substantially damaging the nitride layer. For thicker oxide layers a preliminary etch step using C.sub.2 F.sub.6 and C.sub.2 HF.sub.5 may be performed prior to using the mixture of C.sub.4 F.sub.8 and CH.sub.2 F.sub.2.