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:
Oct. 02, 2012
Filed:
Sep. 17, 2009
Quoc Toan Le, Belgrade, BE;
Els Kesters, Holsbeek, BE;
Guy Vereecke, Chastre, BE;
IMEC, Leuven, BE;
Abstract
A method for removing a hardened photoresist from a semiconductor substrate. An example method for removing a hardened photoresist layer from a substrate comprising a low-κ dielectric material preserving the characteristics of the low-κdielectric material includes: a)—providing a substrate comprising a hardened photoresist layer and a low-κ dielectric material at least partially exposed; b)—forming C═C double bonds in the hardened photoresist by exposing the hardened photoresist to UV radiation having a wavelength between 200 nm and 300 nm in vacuum or in an inert atmosphere; c)—breaking the C═C double bonds formed in step b) by reacting the hardened photoresist with ozone (O) or a mixture of ozone (O) and oxygen (O) thereby fragmenting the hardened photoresist; and d)—removing the fragmented photoresist obtained in step c) by wet processing with cleaning chemistries.