# US 11,078,570 B2 · Azimuthal critical dimension non-uniformity for double patterning process

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- Number: US 11,078,570 B2
- Document ID: US11078570B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 16/023,069
- Filed: 2018-06-29
- Published: 2020-01-02
- Granted: 2021-08-03
- Earliest claimed: 2018-06-29
- Assignees: Lam Research Corporation
- Applicants: Lam Research Corporation
- Inventors: Pulkit Agarwal; Adrien Lavoie; Frank Loren Pasquale; Ravi Kumar
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11078570B2

## CPC

- C23C 16/45565: {Shower nozzles}
- C23C 16/0227: {by cleaning or etching}
- C23C 16/45536: {Use of plasma, radiation or electromagnetic fields}
- C23C 16/52: Controlling or regulating the coating process {(C23C16/45557, C23C16/279 take precedence)}
- C23C: COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; SURFACE TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL BY DIFFUSION INTO THE SURFACE, BY CHEMICAL CONVERSION OR SUBSTITUTION; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL (making metal-coated products by extrusion B21C23/22; covering with metal by connecting pre-existing layers to articles, see the relevant places, e.g. B21D39/00, B23K; metallising of glass C03C; metallising mortars, concrete, artificial stone, ceramics or natural stone C04B41/00; enamelling of, or applying a vitreous layer to, metals C23D; treating metal surfaces or coating of metals by electrolysis or electrophoresis C25D; single-crystal film growth C30B; by metallising textiles D06M11/83; decorating textiles by locally metallising D06Q1/04)

## Abstract

A method for adjusting a position of a showerhead in a processing chamber includes arranging a substrate that includes a plurality of mandrels on a substrate support in the processing chamber and adjusting a position of the showerhead relative to the substrate support. Adjusting the position of the showerhead includes adjusting the showerhead to a tilted position based on data indicating a correlation between the position of the showerhead and azimuthal non-uniformities associated with etching the substrate. The method further includes, with the showerhead in the tilted position as adjusted based on the data, performing a trim step to etch the plurality of mandrels.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method for adjusting a position of a showerhead in a processing chamber, the method comprising:
arranging a substrate on a substrate support in the processing chamber, wherein a plurality of mandrels are formed on the substrate;
adjusting a position of the showerhead relative to the substrate support, wherein adjusting the position of the showerhead includes adjusting the showerhead to a tilted position based on data indicating a correlation between the position of the showerhead and azimuthal etching non-uniformities associated with etching the substrate, wherein the data indicates sensitivities of the azimuthal etching non-uniformities to respective positions of a plurality of different tilted positions of the showerhead and includes respective standard deviations of etch amounts across a surface of the substrate for each of the plurality of different tilted positions; and
with the showerhead in the tilted position as adjusted based on the data, performing a trim step to etch the plurality of mandrels,
wherein adjusting the position of the showerhead includes adjusting the position of the showerhead to a tilted position having a smallest standard deviation from among the respective standard deviations of the etch amounts across the surface of the substrate for each of the plurality of different tilted positions as indicated by the data.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising collecting the data and storing the data in memory.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, wherein collecting the data includes adjusting the showerhead to the plurality of different tilted positions, performing a plurality of trim steps when the showerhead is in the plurality of different tilted positions, and determining azimuthal etching non-uniformities associated with performing the plurality of trim steps in each of the plurality of different tilted positions.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising, subsequent to performing the trim step, depositing a spacer layer on the mandrels.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the trim step is performed in a self-aligned double patterning process.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the tilted position of the showerhead based on the data and providing information indicating the tilted position.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The method of claim 6, further comprising providing the information to a user interface.

### Claim 8 (depends on 6)

The method of claim 6, further comprising controlling an actuator to adjust the position of the showerhead to the tilted position based on the information.