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US 2010/0221916 A1Published application
Methods of Etching Oxide, Reducing Roughness, and Forming Capacitor Constructions
AssigneeMicron Technology, Inc.
InventorsNiraj B. Rana, Kevin R. Shea, Janos Fucsko
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Abstract
The invention includes methods in which one or more components of a carboxylic acid having an aqueous acidic dissociation constant of at least 1×10−6 are utilized during the etch of oxide (such as silicon dioxide or doped silicon dioxide). Two or more carboxylic acids can be utilized. Exemplary carboxylic acids include trichloroacetic acid, maleic acid, and citric acid.
Claims21
1-34. (canceled)
A semiconductor processing method comprising:
- providing an etched silicon-dioxide-containing surface having silicon-dioxide-containing debris thereon, the silicon-dioxide-containing surface and the silicon-dioxide-containing debris together possessing the property of exhibiting an amount of roughness on the silicon-dioxide-containing surface that is induced if the silicon-dioxide-containing debris is removed using a cleaning mixture containing an organic solvent and fluoride ions;
- providing a modified cleaning mixture containing the organic solvent, the fluoride ions, and further containing one or more components of a carboxylic acid having an aqueous acidic dissociation constant of at least 1×10−6;
- removing at least some of the silicon-dioxide-containing debris from the silicon-dioxide-containing surface using the modified cleaning mixture, the inclusion of the one or more components of the carboxylic acid reducing the amount of roughness to a lesser amount of roughness induced during the removal of the silicon-dioxide-containing debris using the modified cleaning mixture.
A semiconductor processing method comprising:
- providing an etched silicon-dioxide-containing surface having silicon-dioxide-containing debris thereon, the silicon-dioxide-containing surface and the silicon-dioxide-containing debris together possessing the property of exhibiting an amount of RMS roughness as measured by atomic force microscopy on the silicon-dioxide-containing surface that is induced if the silicon-dioxide-containing debris is removed using a cleaning mixture containing a combination of:
- from about 90% to about 99.9%, by weight, organic solvent;
- from about 0.03% to about 0.3%, by weight, hydrofluoric acid to provide fluoride ions in the mixture;
- and
- water;
- providing a modified cleaning mixture containing the combination of the organic solvent, the fluoride ions, the water, and further containing one or more components of trichloroacetic acid and one or more components of at least one additional carboxylic acid having an aqueous acidic dissociation constant of at least 1×10−6, the additional carboxylic acid having at least two carboxylic acid groups;
- removing at least some of the silicon-dioxide-containing debris from the silicon-dioxide-containing surface using the modified cleaning mixture, the inclusion of trichloroacetic acid and the additional carboxylic acid reducing the amount of roughness to a lesser amount of RMS roughness induced during the removal of the silicon-dioxide-containing debris using the modified cleaning mixture.
4 more elements
A semiconductor processing method, comprising:
- providing a semiconductor substrate having an oxide supported thereon, the oxide consisting essentially of silicon dioxide or doped silicon dioxide;
- etching at least one opening which extends at least partially through the oxide, the etching leaving silicon-dioxide-containing debris within the opening;
- and
- utilizing trichloroacetic acid in combination with at least one additional carboxylic acid having an aqueous acidic dissociation constant of at least 1×10−6 during cleaning of at least some of the silicon-dioxide-containing debris from within the opening, the at least one additional carboxylic acid containing at least two carboxylic acid groups.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.