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US 12,537,159 B2Granted
Etching method, plasma processing apparatus, and processing system
AssigneeTokyo Electron Limited
InventorsDaisuke Nishide, Toru Hisamatsu, Shinya Ishikawa
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An etching method includes: providing a substrate having a film and a patterned mask on the film; forming a silicon-containing layer including silicon, carbon, and nitrogen on the substrate using a precursor gas containing silicon; and performing a plasma etching on the film. The substrate is placed under a depressurized environment for a time period from a start time point of the step of forming the silicon-containing layer on the substrate to an end time point of the step of performing the plasma etching on the film.
Claims19
A plasma processing apparatus comprising:
- a chamber including at least one gas inlet and at least one gas outlet;
- a substrate support disposed in the chamber;
- a plasma generator configured to generate a plasma in the chamber;
- and
- a controller having a processor and a memory with a computer readable program stored therein, the controller being configured to cause:
- (a) placing a substrate on the substrate support, the substrate including a silicon oxide film, an organic film formed on the silicon oxide film, an antireflection film formed on the organic film, a resist mask formed on the antireflection film and a mask including the organic film, the antireflection film and the resist mask, the mask being patterned on the silicon oxide film and including a side wall that defines an opening, the silicon oxide film being exposed through the opening;
- (b) forming a SiCN layer on the side wall of the mask using a first processing gas including a precursor gas containing silicon;
- and then
- (c) etching the silicon oxide film through the opening of the mask using a plasma generated from a second processing gas,
- wherein the SiCN layer formed in step (b) is substantially free of silicon-oxygen bonds, and
- the controller is configured to cause step (b) to be performed under a depressurized environment to suppress oxidation of the SiCN layer.
8 more elements
A plasma processing apparatus comprising:
- a chamber including at least one gas inlet and at least one gas outlet;
- a substrate support disposed in the chamber;
- a plasma generator configured to generate a plasma in the chamber;
- and
- a controller having a processor and a memory with a computer readable program stored therein, the controller being configured to cause:
- (a) placing a substrate on the substrate support, the substrate including a silicon-containing film, an organic film formed on the silicon-containing film, an antireflection film formed on the organic film, a resist mask formed on the antireflection film and a mask including the organic film, the antireflection film and the resist mask, the mask being patterned on the silicon-containing film, the mask including a side wall that defines an opening, the silicon-containing film being exposed through the opening;
- (b) forming a layer containing silicon, carbon, and nitrogen on the side wall of the mask using a first processing gas including a precursor gas containing silicon;
- and then
- (c) etching the silicon-containing film through the opening of the mask using a plasma generated from second processing gas,
- wherein the layer containing silicon, carbon, and nitrogen formed in step (b) is substantially free of silicon-oxygen bonds, and
- the controller is configured to cause step (b) to be performed under a depressurized environment to suppress oxidation of the layer containing silicon, carbon, and nitrogen.
8 more elements
A plasma processing system comprising:
- a first plasma processing module;
- a second plasma processing module;
- a vacuum transfer module connected to the first plasma processing module and the second processing module, and configured to transfer a substrate between the first plasma processing module and the second plasma processing module;
- and
- a controller having a processor and a memory with a computer readable program stored therein, the controller being configured to control the first plasma processing module, the second plasma processing module, and the vacuum transfer module,
- wherein first plasma processing module includes:
- a first chamber including at least one gas inlet and at least one gas outlet;
- a first substrate support in the first chamber;
- and
- a first plasma generator;
- wherein the second plasma processing module includes:
- a second chamber including at least one gas inlet and at least one gas outlet;
- a second substrate support in the second chamber;
- and
- a second plasma generator;
- wherein the controller is configured to cause:
- (a) placing a substrate on the first substrate support, the substrate including a silicon oxide film, an organic film formed on the silicon oxide film, an antireflection film formed on the organic film, a resist mask formed on the antireflection film and a mask including the organic film, the antireflection film and the resist mask, the mask being patterned on the silicon oxide film, the mask including a side wall that defines an opening, the silicon oxide film being exposed through the opening of the mask;
- (b) forming a SiCN layer on the side wall of the mask using a first processing gas including a precursor gas containing silicon, in the first chamber;
- (c) transferring the substrate from the first chamber to the second chamber through the vacuum transfer module;
- (d) placing the substrate on the second substrate support;
- and
- (e) etching the silicon oxide film through the opening of the mask using a plasma generated from a second processing gas, in the second chamber,
- wherein the SiCN layer formed in step (b) is substantially free of silicon-oxygen bonds, and
- the controller is configured to cause step (b) to be performed under a depressurized environment to suppress oxidation of the SiCN layer.
21 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.