Apparatus and method for fabricating semiconductor devices
AssigneeDongbu Electronics Co., Ltd.
InventorsChang Gyu Kim, Wan Shick Kim
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Disclosed is apparatus and method for fabricating semiconductor devices, in particular comprising a wafer chuck for holding a semiconductor wafer on which a predetermined thin layer is deposited; a processing chamber for injecting etching gas toward the wafer to form a predetermined pattern; and a clamp or a shadow ring provided on an edge of the wafer being held by the wafer chuck and preventing the edge from being etched, and thereby forming a protective step around the edge. Therefore, during a subsequent CMP process, the pattern adjacent to the edge of the wafer can be prevented from being over-polished, and reliability as well as productivity of the semiconductor devices can be improved.
Claims10
An apparatus for fabricating semiconductor devices, comprising:
- a wafer chuck for holding a semiconductor wafer on which various thin layers has been deposited;
- a processing chamber for injecting etching gas toward the wafer to form a predetermined pattern;
- and
- a clamp, attached to an edge of the wafer being held by the wafer chuck, for preventing the edge from being etched.
An apparatus for fabricating semiconductor devices, comprising:
- a wafer chuck for holding a semiconductor wafer on which various thin layers has been deposited;
- a processing chamber for injecting etching gas toward the wafer to form a predetermined pattern;
- and
- a shadow ring, provided in the chamber upwardly spaced apart from the wafer being held by the wafer chuck, for preventing the edge from being etched.
A method for fabricating semiconductor devices using a semiconductor wafer formed with various thin layers thereon, comprising the steps of:
- covering the thin layers with photoresist and then partially removing the photoresist from an edge of the wafer;
- etching the wafer except for the edge which is free from the photoresist with etching gas so as to form a predetermined pattern;
- forming a protective step on the edge at the same time as the pattern is being formed;
- and
- performing planarization of the wafer formed with the pattern and the protective step.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.