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US 10,854,455 B2Granted
Methods and apparatus for fabricating IC chips with tilted patterning
AssigneeMarvell Asia Pte Ltd
InventorsRunzi Chang, Winston Lee
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present disclosure describes methods and apparatuses for fabricating integrated-circuit (IC) die with tilted patterning. In some aspects, mandrels are fabricated on a material stack and occlude portions of a layer of material from a field of energy radiated at an angle of incidence relative to the mandrels. The occluded portions of the layer of material can be used to mask an underlying film to create a film pattern on a substrate of the IC die. These methods and apparatuses may enable the fabrication of IC die with features that are smaller in size than those afforded by conventional lithography processes.
Claims26
A method comprising:
- depositing a material stack onto a film to be patterned, the material stack including a first layer of material that is sensitive to radiated energy disposed over a second layer of material that is not sensitive to radiated energy;
- fabricating, from a material through which radiated energy cannot pass, mandrels onto the material stack, the mandrels fabricated onto the first layer of material that is sensitive to radiated energy;
- radiating a field of collimated energy at an angle of incidence with respect to the mandrels such that the mandrels (i) occlude first portions of the first layer of material from the field of collimated energy and (ii) expose second portions of the first layer of material to the field of collimated energy;
- removing the mandrels from the material stack;
- removing the second portions of the first layer of material that were exposed to the radiated field of collimated energy;
- removing portions of the second layer of material and the film that are no longer masked by the second portions of the first layer of material that were removed;
- and
- removing unexposed portions of the first layer of material and other portions of the second layer of material to reveal the patterned film, the unexposed portions of the first layer of material including the first portions of the first layer of material that were occluded from the radiated field of collimated energy.
5 more elements
A method comprising:
- depositing a material stack onto a film to be patterned, the material stack including a first layer of a photoresist material that is sensitive to radiated light disposed over a second layer of another material that is not sensitive to the radiated light;
- fabricating, from a material through which the radiated light cannot pass, mandrels onto the material stack, the mandrels fabricated over the first layer of the photoresist material that is sensitive to radiated light;
- radiating a field of collimated light at an angle of incidence with respect to the mandrels such that the mandrels (i) occlude first portions of the first layer of the photoresist material from the field of collimated light and (ii) expose second portions of the first layer of the photoresist material to the field of collimated light;
- removing the mandrels from the material stack;
- removing the second portions of the first layer of the photoresist material that were exposed to the radiated field of collimated light using a develop process;
- removing portions of the second layer of the other material and the film that are no longer masked by the second portions of the first layer of the photoresist material that were removed;
- and
- removing unexposed portions of the first layer of the photoresist material and other portions of the second layer of the other material to reveal the patterned film, the unexposed portions of the first layer of the photoresist material including the first portions of the first layer of the photoresist material that were occluded from the radiated field of collimated light.
5 more elements
A method of patterning film with a material stack, the method comprising:
- depositing a film to be patterned on a silicon substrate;
- depositing, over the film to be patterned and as part of the material stack, a first layer of a material that is not sensitive to radiated energy;
- depositing, over the first layer of material and as part of the material stack, a second layer of a material that is sensitive to radiated light;
- forming, over the second layer of material of the material stack, a plurality of mandrels from a material through which radiated light cannot pass;
- radiating a field of collimated light at an angle of incidence with respect to the plurality of mandrels such that the mandrels (i) occlude first portions of the second layer of material from the field of collimated light and (ii) do not occlude second portions of the second layer of material from the field of collimated light;
- removing, after radiating the field of collimated light, the mandrels from the material stack;
- removing, after removing the mandrels from the material stack, the second portions of the second layer of material that were not occluded from the radiated field of collimated light;
- removing respective portions of the film and the first layer that are no longer masked by the second portions of the second layer of material;
- and removing the first portions of the second layer of material that were not exposed to the fled of collimated light and remaining portions of the first layer of material to reveal the film that remains on the silicon substrate as a patterned film.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.