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. 17, 2003
Filed:
May. 07, 2002
Applicant:
Inventors:
Padmapani Nallan, San Jose, CA (US);
Hakeem Oluseyi, Stanford, CA (US);
Assignee:
Applied Materials Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H01L 2/100 ; C23F 1/00 ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
H01L 2/100 ; C23F 1/00 ;
Abstract
The present invention relates to a method of etching tungsten or tungsten nitride in semiconductor structures. We have discovered a method of etching tungsten or tungsten nitride which permits precise etch profile control while providing a rapid etch rate. In particular, the method employs the use of a plasma source gas where the chemically functional etchant species are generated from a combination of sulfur hexafluoride (SF ) and nitrogen (N ), where the sulfur hexafluoride and nitrogen are provided in a volumetric flow rate ratio within the range of about 1:2.5 to about 6:1.