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:
Jun. 03, 2003
Filed:
Mar. 12, 1999
Bernice L. Kickel, Boise, ID (US);
John A. Smythe, III, Boise, ID (US);
ZiLOG, Inc., San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
The present invention provides a method for improving the quality of thin oxides formed upon a semiconductor body. The etch and pre-clean processes are performed in situ, taking place in a single apparatus. This reduces the amount of handling of the wafers, their exposure to clean room air, and time delays between clean and oxidation. This results in both a higher yield and greater reliability. In addition, it reduces equipment requirements. The etch, employing a buffered oxide etchant, resist strip, and pre-clean, all occur in a single apparatus without transfer, yielding better results, despite the inherently dirty nature of the resist strip, than the traditional technique of transferring to a new apparatus for each of these steps. The improvements are particularly important for thin oxides such as the tunnel oxides of EEPROMs.