Method of forming a semiconductor device by DUV resist patterning
AssigneeMotorola, Inc.
InventorsPaul Kevin Cox, Thy Ngu-Uyen Tran, Samuel Jay Wright, Judith Sobresky
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for forming a semiconductor device, including providing a silicon substrate (10), forming a gate stack (11) on the substrate (10), coating a deep ultra-violet (DUV) photoresist (30) on the gate stack (11), exposing and developing the photoresist (30), and etching the gate stack (11). According to the present invention, the gate stack (11) has a dielectric nitride layer (26), particularly, a silicon nitride layer. An adhesive oxide layer (28) is provided between the nitride layer (26) and the photoresist (30) to prevent undesirable lifting of the photoresist (30). Yield is greatly increased and defectivity is reduced.
Claims23
A method of forming a semiconductor device comprising the steps of:
- providing a silicon substrate;
- forming a gate stack on the silicon substrate comprising the steps of:
- forming a gate electrode on the silicon substrate;
- forming a silicon nitride layer on the gate electrode;
- and
- forming an adhesive oxide layer on the silicon nitride layer;
- forming a DUV photoresist on the gate stack;
- exposing the DUV photoresist to DUV energy and developing the DUV photoresist to remove portions thereof to leave exposed regions of the gate stack;
- and
- etching the exposed regions of the gate stack.
A method for etching a material comprising the steps of:
- forming an adhesive oxide layer on the material having a nitride surface, such that the adhesive oxide layer covers the nitride surface;
- forming a DUV photoresist on the adhesive oxide layer;
- exposing portions of the DUV photoresist;
- developing the DUV photoresist to remove the portions of the DUV photoresist and leave exposed regions of the material;
- and
- etching the exposed regions of the material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.