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:
May. 10, 2016
Filed:
Jul. 14, 2015
Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Bencherki Mebarki, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Bok Hoen Kim, San Jose, CA (US);
Deenesh Padhi, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Li Yan Miao, San Francisco, CA (US);
Pramit Manna, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Christopher Dennis Bencher, Cupertino, CA (US);
Mehul B. Naik, San Jose, CA (US);
Huixiong Dai, San Jose, CA (US);
Christopher S. Ngai, Burlingame, CA (US);
Daniel Lee Diehl, Chiba, JP;
APPLIED MATERIALS, INC., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
Embodiments of the disclosure generally provide a method of forming a reduced dimension pattern in a hardmask that is optically matched to an overlying photoresist layer. The method generally comprises of application of a dimension shrinking conformal carbon layer over the field region, sidewalls, and bottom portion of the patterned photoresist and the underlying hardmask at temperatures below the decomposition temperature of the photoresist. The methods and embodiments herein further involve removal of the conformal carbon layer from the bottom portion of the patterned photoresist and the hardmask by an etch process to expose the hardmask, etching the exposed hardmask substrate at the bottom portion, followed by the simultaneous removal of the conformal carbon layer, the photoresist, and other carbonaceous components. A hardmask with reduced dimension features for further pattern transfer is thus yielded.