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:
Aug. 31, 2010
Filed:
Aug. 20, 2007
Dongho Heo, Fremont, CA (US);
Supriya Goyal, Emeryville, CA (US);
Jisoo Kim, Pleasanton, CA (US);
S. M. Reza Sadjadi, Saratoga, CA (US);
Dongho Heo, Fremont, CA (US);
Supriya Goyal, Emeryville, CA (US);
Jisoo Kim, Pleasanton, CA (US);
S. M. Reza Sadjadi, Saratoga, CA (US);
Lam Research Corporation, Fremont, CA (US);
Abstract
A method for etching a dielectric layer disposed below an antireflection layer (ARL) is provided. The method comprises (a) forming a patterned mask with mask features over the ARL, the mask having isolated areas and dense areas of the mask features, (b) trimming and opening, and (c) etching the dielectric layer using the trimmed mask. The trimming and opening comprises a plurality of cycles, where each cycle includes (b1) a trim-etch phase which etches the ARL in a bottom of the mask features and selectively trims the isolated areas of the mask with respect to the dense areas, and (b2) a deposition-etch phase which deposits a deposition layer on the mask while further etching the ARL in the bottom of the mask features. The trimming and opening result in a net trimming of the mask in the isolated areas.