Material stripping in semiconductor devices by evaporation
OwnerPetra Hetzer, Matthias Schaller +1inventors
InventorsPetra Hetzer, Matthias Schaller, Daniel Fischer
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Abstract
A sacrificial material, such as resist material, polymer material, organic residues and the like, may be efficiently removed from a surface of a semiconductor device by evaporating the material under consideration, which may, for instance, be accomplished by energy deposition. For example, a laser beam may be scanned across the surface to be treated so as to evaporate the sacrificial material, such as resist material, while significantly reducing any negative effects on other materials such as dielectrics, metals, semiconductive materials and the like. Moreover, by selecting an appropriate scan regime, a locally selective removal of material may be accomplished in a highly efficient manner.
Claims25
A method of removing a sacrificial material from above a surface of a semiconductor device, the method comprising:
- transferring energy into at least a portion of said sacrificial material within a process ambient so as to evaporate said at least a portion of said sacrificial material and release volatile components of said sacrificial material into said process ambient;
- and
- processing said volatile components in said process ambient.
A method, comprising:
- performing a process on a semiconductor device by using an organic material as a mask;
- and
- exposing at least a portion of said organic material to at least one of radiation and energetic particles so as to evaporate said at least a portion of said organic material.
A material removal system, comprising:
- a process chamber configured to establish a specified low-pressure process ambient;
- a substrate holder positioned in said process chamber and configured to receive and hold in place a substrate having formed thereon semiconductor devices and a material to be removed from said semiconductor devices;
- and
- an energy source positioned so as to transfer energy into said material and to evaporate said material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.