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:
Sep. 29, 2015
Filed:
Sep. 27, 2013
Semiconductor Manufacturing International (Shanghai) Corporation, Shanghai, CN;
Hao Deng, Shanghai, CN;
Abstract
A method for forming shallow trench isolation (STI) structures includes using a hard mask, such as silicon nitride, in shallow trench etching and also as a polishing stop layer in planarizing the dielectric that fills the trenches. After the shallow trench is filled with the dielectric material and planarized, a top portion of the hard mask is removed, resulting in a top portion of the filled dielectric material to protrude above the remaining hard mask. The protruding dielectric is then treated in an oxygen plasma and annealed at a high temperature to form a densified oxide cap layer. The densified oxide layer can provide greater resistance to corrosion and can protect the shallow trench isolation structure during subsequent wet processing, such as DHF clean. Variations in the STI structures can be reduced and device performance improved.