Process for etching photomasks
AssigneeApplied Materials, Inc.
InventorsMadhavi Chandrachood, Nicole Sandlin, Yung-Hee Lee, Jian Ding
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Method and apparatus for etching a metal layer disposed on a substrate, such as a photolithographic reticle, are provided. In one aspect, a method is provided for processing a substrate including positioning a substrate having a metal layer disposed on an optically transparent material in a processing chamber, introducing a processing gas processing gas comprising an oxygen containing gas, a chlorine containing gas, and a chlorine-free halogen containing gas, and optionally, an inert gas, into the processing chamber, generating a plasma of the processing gas in the processing chamber, and etching exposed portions of the metal layer disposed on the substrate.
Claims22
A method for processing a photolithographic reticle, comprising:
- positioning the reticle on a support member in a processing chamber, wherein the reticle comprises a metal photomask layer formed on an optically transparent substrate and a patterned resist material deposited on and exposing a portion of the metal photomask layer;
- introducing a processing gas comprising an oxygen containing gas, a chlorine containing gas, and a chlorine-free halogen containing gas;
- delivering power to the processing chamber to generate a plasma of the processing gas;
- and
- removing exposed portions of the metal photomask layer.
A method for processing a photolithographic reticle, comprising:
- positioning the reticle on a support member in a processing chamber, wherein the reticle comprises a chromium-based photomask layer formed on an optically transparent silicon-based material and a patterned resist material deposited on and exposing a portion of the chromium-based photomask layer;
- introducing a processing gas comprising chlorine gas, oxygen gas, and hydrogen bromide;
- maintaining a chamber pressure between about 2 milliTorr and about 20 milliTorr;
- delivering a source power between about 100 and about 1000 watts to a coil disposed in the processing chamber to generate a plasma;
- supplying a bias power to the support member between about 0 and about 150 watts;
- and
- etching exposed portions of the chromium-based photomask layer;
- and
- removing the chromium-based photomask layer at a removal rate ratio of chromium-based photomask layer to resist material of about 1:1 or greater.
A method for processing a photolithographic reticle, comprising:
- positioning the reticle on a support member in a processing chamber, wherein the reticle comprises a chromium-based photomask layer formed on an optically transparent silicon-based material and a patterned resist material deposited on and exposing a portion of the chromium-based photomask layer;
- introducing a processing gas comprising chlorine gas, oxygen gas, and hydrogen bromide;
- maintaining a chamber pressure between about 3 milliTorr and about 8 milliTorr;
- delivering a source power of about 400 to a coil disposed in the processing chamber to generate a plasma;
- supplying a bias power to the support member of about 20;
- and
- etching exposed portions of the chromium-based photomask layer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.