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:
Apr. 12, 2005
Filed:
Oct. 16, 2002
Chao-tzung Tsai, Hsinchu, TW;
Jia-sheng Wu, Taoyuan, TW;
Fuxuan Fang, Douliou, TW;
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Hsin-Chu, TW;
Abstract
A method of reducing the critical dimension (CD) of a hard mask by a wet etch method is described. An oxide hard mask is treated with a HSO/HO(SPM) solution followed by treatment with a NHOH/HO/HO (APM) solution to trim the CD by 0 to 20 nm. With nitride or oxynitride hard masks, a buffered HF dip is inserted prior to the SPM treatment. For oxide hard masks, the SPM solution performs the etch while APM solution assists in removing plasma etch residues. With oxynitride hard masks, the APM performs the etch while BHF and SPM solutions remove plasma etch residues. The hard mask pattern can then be transferred with a dry etch into an underlying polysilicon layer to form a gate length of less than 150 nm while controlling the CD to within 3 to 5 nm of a targeted value.