Thin resist with nitride hard mask for gate etch application
US6309926A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 4, 1998 |
| Grant date | Oct 30, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 4, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01L21/32137
- WIPO fieldSemiconductors
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method of forming a gate structure is provided. In the method, a nitride layer is formed on a gate material layer. An ultra-thin photoresist layer is formed on the nitride layer. The ultra-thin photoresist layer is patterned with short wavelength radiation to define a pattern for the gate. The ultra-thin photoresist layer is used as a mask during a first etch step to transfer the gate pattern to the nitride layer. The first etch step includes an etch chemistry that is selective to the nitride layer over the ultra-thin photoresist layer. The nitride layer is used as a hard mask during a second etch step to form the gate by transferring the gate pattern to the gate material layer via the second etch step.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.