Patent · US Expired

Method for forming a shallow trench isolation using HDP silicon oxynitride

US6258676A · kind A · utility

19Cited by
7References
14Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateNov 1, 1999
Grant dateJul 10, 2001
Priority date
Expiry dateNov 1, 2019

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH01L21/76232
  • WIPO fieldSemiconductors
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A Method for forming a shallow trench isolation using HDP silicon oxynitride. A pad oxide layer is formed on a semiconductor substrate having an active area and an isolation area and a barc layer is formed over the pad oxide layer. The barc layer, the pad oxide layer, and the semiconductor substrate are patterned to form a trench having rounded corners in the isolation area. A liner oxide layer is formed over the semiconductor substrate, and a gap fill layer is formed on the liner oxide layer. An important feature of the invention is that the gap fill layer is composed of silicon oxynitride formed using a high density plasma chemical vapor deposition process. A portion of the gap fill layer over the active area can be removed using a reverse trench mask etch, and the gap fill layer is further planarized with a chemical mechanical polishing process using the liner oxide layer as chemical mechanical polishing stop.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.