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:
Nov. 24, 2009
Filed:
Jun. 15, 2007
Kelvin Kyaw Zin, Peabody, MA (US);
Shin Okamoto, Kofu, JP;
Kelvin Kyaw Zin, Peabody, MA (US);
Shin Okamoto, Kofu, JP;
Tokyo Electron Limited, , JP;
Abstract
A method of treating a dielectric layer on a substrate is described. The method comprises forming the dielectric layer on the substrate, wherein the dielectric layer comprises a dielectric constant value less than the dielectric constant of SiO. A feature pattern is formed in the dielectric layer using an etching process. Following the etching process, the feature pattern is treated using a nitrogen-containing plasma in order to form nitride surface layers by introducing nitrogen to the exposed surfaces of the dielectric layer in the feature pattern. Thereafter, the feature pattern is selectively etched to partially or fully remove the nitride surface layers.