Conformal strippable carbon film for line-edge-roughness reduction for advanced patterning

A method of processing a substrate, comprising:

• providing a substrate comprising a pattern in a photoresist layer to a plasma chamber, the photoresist layer being deposited on a hardmask layer, the pattern forming one or more features which expose a portion of the hardmask layer;
• introducing a hydrocarbon source, a plasma-initiating gas, and a dilution gas into the processing chamber, wherein a volumetric flow rate of hydrocarbon source:plasma-initiating gas:dilution gas is in a ratio of 1:0.5:20;
• generating a plasma in the processing chamber at a deposition temperature of about 300° C. to about 500° C.;
• and
• depositing a conformal organic layer directly on the photoresist and the exposed upper surface of the hardmask, wherein the photoresist and the exposed surface of the hardmask each have a refractive index between 1.6 and 1.7 and the coefficient of extinction is between 0.00 and 0.12 at a wavelength of 193 nm, and wherein the substrate temperature is maintained at less than 100° C. while depositing the conformal organic layer.

A method of processing a substrate, comprising:

• providing a substrate comprising a patterned photoresist on a hardmask to a plasma chamber to expose a portion of the hardmask through the patterned photoresist;
• introducing a hydrocarbon source, a plasma-initiating gas, and a dilution gas into the processing chamber, the nitrogen-containing hydrocarbon source comprising one or more nitrogen containing hydrocarbon compounds selected from the group consisting of methylamine, dimethylamine, trimethylamine (TMA), triethylamine, aniline, quinoline, pyridine, acrilonitrile, benzonitrile, and combinations thereof;
• generating a plasma in the processing chamber to deposit a conformal organic layer on the patterned features and the exposed portion of the hardmask;
• depositing a conformal organic layer comprised of nitrogen-doped amorphous carbon layer over the field region, sidewalls, and a bottom portion of the pattern formed by the patterned photoresist and the hardmask, wherein the photoresist has a refractive index between 1.6 and 1.7 and the coefficient of extinction is between 0.00 and 0.12 at a wavelength of 193 nm, and the hardmask, of the general chemical formula SiOwNx:Hy, wherein w has a range of between 1 and 50, x has a range of between 0 and 50, y has a range of 0 to 50, and wherein the hardmask optical properties sufficiently match the optical properties of the photoresist, at a lithography exposure wavelength of the photoresist.