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. 01, 2017
Filed:
Oct. 24, 2016
Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Dongqing Yang, Pleasanton, CA (US);
Lala Zhu, Fremont, CA (US);
Fei Wang, Fremont, CA (US);
Nitin K. Ingle, San Jose, CA (US);
Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
Methods of selectively removing silicon oxide are described. Exposed portions of silicon oxide and spacer material may both be present on a patterned substrate. The silicon oxide may be a native oxide formed on silicon by exposure to atmosphere. The exposed portion of spacer material may have been etched back using reactive ion etching (RIE). A portion of the exposed spacer material may have residual damage from the reactive ion etching. A self-assembled monolayer (SAM) is selectively deposited over the damaged portion of spacer material but not on the exposed silicon oxide or undamaged portions of spacer material. A subsequent gas-phase etch may then be used to selectively remove silicon oxide but not the damaged portion of the spacer material because the SAM has been found to not only preferentially adsorb on the damaged spacer but also to halt the etch rate.