Back to results
US 2018/0247831 A1Published application
Method for ultra-shallow etching using neutral beam processing based on gas cluster ion beam technology
AssigneeExogenesis Corporation
InventorsSean R. Kirkpatrick, Richard C. Svrluga
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for shallow etching a substrate surface forms a shallow modified substrate layer overlying unmodified substrate using an accelerated neutral beam and etches the modified layer, stopping at the unmodified substrate beneath, producing controlled shallow etched substrate surfaces.
Claims23
A method for controlled shallow etching of a surface of a substrate comprising the steps of:
- providing a reduced pressure chamber;
- forming a gas cluster ion beam comprising gas cluster ions within the reduced pressure chamber;
- accelerating the gas cluster ions to form an accelerated gas cluster ion beam along a beam path within the reduced pressure chamber;
- promoting fragmentation and/or dissociation of at least a portion of the accelerated gas cluster ions along the beam path;
- removing charged particles from the beam path to form an accelerated neutral beam along the beam path in the reduced pressure chamber;
- holding the substrate in the beam path;
- treating a portion of a surface of the substrate by irradiating it with the accelerated neutral beam to form a shallow modified layer on the irradiated portion of the surface, the shallow modified layer, overlying unmodified substrate beneath;
- etching the surface having the shallow modified layer to preferentially remove material in the shallow modified layer on the surface and wherein the etching stops at the unmodified substrate beneath.
5 more elements
An etched semiconductor or metal or dielectric surface of a substrate, comprising a patterned etched feature with a depth of 6 nanometers or less.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.