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. 14, 2005
Filed:
Dec. 12, 2001
Chang-lin Hsieh, San Jose, CA (US);
Jie Yuan, San Jose, CA (US);
Hui Chen, San Jose, CA (US);
Theodoros Panagopoulos, Cupertino, CA (US);
Yan YE, Campbell, CA (US);
Chang-Lin Hsieh, San Jose, CA (US);
Jie Yuan, San Jose, CA (US);
Hui Chen, San Jose, CA (US);
Theodoros Panagopoulos, Cupertino, CA (US);
Yan Ye, Campbell, CA (US);
Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
A method is provided for etching a dielectric structure. The dielectric structure comprises: (a) a layer of undoped silicon oxide or F-doped silicon oxide; and (b) a layer of C,H-doped silicon oxide. The dielectric structure is etched in a plasma-etching step, which plasma-etching step is conducted using a plasma source gas that comprises nitrogen atoms and fluorine atoms. As one example, the plasma source gas can comprise a gaseous species that comprises one or more nitrogen atoms and one or more fluorine atoms (e.g., NF). As another example, the plasma source gas can comprise (a) a gaseous species that comprises one or more nitrogen atoms (e.g., N) and (b) a gaseous species that comprises one or more fluorine atoms (e.g., a fluorocarbon gas such as CF). In this etching step, the layer of C,H-doped silicon oxide is preferentially etched relative to the layer of undoped silicon oxide or F-doped silicon oxide. The method of the present invention is applicable, for example, to dual damascene structures.