Dry-etch for selective oxidation removal

Abstract

Methods of selectively etching tungsten oxide relative to tungsten, silicon oxide, silicon nitride and/or titanium nitride are described. The methods include a remote plasma etch formed from a fluorine-containing precursor and/or hydrogen (H2). Plasma effluents from the remote plasma are flowed into a substrate processing region where the plasma effluents react with the tungsten oxide. The plasmas effluents react with exposed surfaces and selectively remove tungsten oxide while very slowly removing other exposed materials. In some embodiments, the tungsten oxide selectivity results partly from the presence of an ion suppression element positioned between the remote plasma and the substrate processing region. The ion suppression element reduces or substantially eliminates the number of ionically-charged species that reach the substrate.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.