Dielectric materials to prevent photoresist poisoning

A method of processing a substrate, comprising:

• depositing a dielectric layer on a surface of the substrate;
• depositing an acidic anti-reflective coating on the dielectric layer by reacting an oxygen-containing organosilicon compound and an acidic compound, wherein the flow rate ratio of the oxygen-containing organosilicon compound to acidic compound is between about 5:1 and about 200:1;
• depositing a photoresist material on the acidic anti-reflective coating;
• and
• patterning the photoresist layer.

A method for processing a substrate, comprising:

• depositing a barrier layer on a substrate surface;
• depositing at least one dielectric layer on a substrate surface;
• depositing a first photoresist material on the at least one dielectric layer;
• patterning the first photoresist layer to define a via for a feature definition;
• etching the at least one dielectric layer to define a via definition;
• depositing an acidic opaque material in the via definition by:
• generating a plasma;
• and
• reacting an oxygen-containing organosilicon compound and an acidic compound in the plasma;
• depositing a second photoresist material on the at least one dielectric layer and the acidic opaque material;
• patterning the second photoresist layer to define a trench for the feature definition;
• etching the at least one dielectric layer and the acidic opaque material to define a trench definition;
• and
• removing any remaining acidic opaque material and second photoresist material from the feature definition.

A method for processing a substrate, comprising:

• depositing a barrier layer on a substrate surface;
• depositing at least one dielectric layer on a substrate surface;
• depositing a first photoresist material on the at least one dielectric layer;
• patterning the first photoresist layer to define a trench for a feature definition;
• etching the at least one dielectric layer to define a trench definition;
• depositing an acidic opaque material in the trench definition by:
• generating a plasma;
• and
• reacting an oxygen-containing organosilicon compound and an acidic compound in the plasma;
• depositing a second photoresist material on the at least one dielectric layer and the acidic opaque material;
• patterning the first photoresist layer to define a via for the feature definition;
• etching the at least one dielectric layer and the acidic opaque layer to define a via definition;
• and
• removing any remaining acidic opaque material and second photoresist material from the feature definition.