Cyclic oxide spacer etch process

US9818621B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Applied Materials, Inc. · US

Inventors

• Aurelien Tavernier · East Palo Alto, US
• Qingjun Zhou · Sunnyvale, US
• Tom Choi · Sunnyvale, US
• YungChen Lin · Los Angeles, US
• Ying Zhang · Santa Clara, US
• Olivier Joubert · Meylan, FR

Key dates

• Filing date: Jan 4, 2017
• Grant date: Nov 14, 2017
• Expiry date: Jan 4, 2037

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H10D84/038
• WIPO field: Semiconductors
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

Embodiments described herein relate to methods for etching a substrate. Patterning processes, such as double patterning and quadruple patterning processes, may benefit from the embodiments described herein which include performing an inert plasma treatment to implant ions into a spacer material, performing an etching process on an implanted region of the spacer material, and repeating the inert plasma treatment and the etching process to form a predominantly flat top spacer profile. The inert plasma treatment process may be a biased process and the etching process may be an unbiased process. Various processing parameters, such as pressure, may be controlled to influence a desired spacer profile.