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. 15, 2001
Filed:
Mar. 01, 1999
Matthew S. Buynoski, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Che-Hoo Ng, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Bhanwar Singh, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Shekhan Pramanick, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Subhash Gupta, Singapore, SG;
Advanced Micro Devices, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Abstract
A method of preparing a narrow photoresist line by first forming a resist pattern on a substrate, wherein a resist line is designed to have a width “w” in excess of a desired width “w,” The resist is then subjected to ionic bombardment with ionized particles in a direction normal to the planar surface of a resistant substrate. The ionic bombardment causes formation of a hardened “chemically less reactive” skin on the exposed top surface of the photoresist. The resist is then subjected to an isotropic etch procedure. Due to the hardened top surface of the narrow pattern, the side wall erode at a faster rate than the top, causing a narrowing of the line width, while retaining a more substantial photoresist thickness than would occur if the top surface would not be hardened in advance of the etch procedure.