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. 03, 2017
Filed:
Jul. 26, 2016
United Microelectronics Corp., Hsin-Chu, TW;
UNITED MICROELECTRONICS CORP., Hsin-Chu, TW;
Abstract
A method of forming a patterned mask layer includes the following steps. A plurality of support features is formed on a mask layer. A plurality of spacers is formed on side walls of the support features. A patterned protection layer is formed on the support features and top surfaces of the spacers. At least a part of side surfaces of the spacers are not covered by the patterned protection layer, and the patterned protection layer is formed in a process environment containing methane (CH). A trimming process is then performed to remove a part of each of the spacers. Tapered parts of the spacers may be removed by the trimming process before the step of etching the mask layer with the spacers as a mask, and the critical dimension uniformity of the patterned mask layer may be improved accordingly.