Patent · US Expired

Process for planarizing substrates of semiconductor technology

US7179753B2 · kind B2 · utility

1Cited by
15References
12Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMay 14, 2002
Grant dateFeb 20, 2007
Priority date
Expiry dateFeb 22, 2023

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH01L21/32134
  • WIPO fieldSemiconductors
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

In a process for planarization of semiconductor substrates in which a layer which has been applied to a semiconductor substrate which has a trench and/or contact holes is removed such that the layer remains solely in the area of the trenches or contact holes, instead of as in the prior art the etching medium being applied in drops, the etching medium is applied in a continuous flow with a flow rate of at least 0.4 l/min so that the etching medium covers the entire surface of the semiconductor substrate to be planarized. This technique yields a differentiated etching rate, the etching speed in the area of the fields between the trenches or contact holes being greater than in the area of the trenches themselves, so that as a result the coating applied to the semiconductor substrate is etched away more quickly than in the area of the trenches and finally material remains only in the area of the trenches or contact holes.

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