Plasma and electron beam etching device and method
AssigneeMicron Technology, Inc.
InventorsNeal R. Rueger, Mark J. Williamson, Gurtej S. Sandhu
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Abstract
Methods and devices for selective etching in a semiconductor process are shown. Chemical species generated in a reaction chamber provide both a selective etching function and concurrently form a protective coating on other regions. An electron beam provides activation to selective chemical species. In one example, reactive species are generated from a plasma source to provide an increased reactive species density. Addition of other gasses to the system can provide functions such as controlling a chemistry in a protective layer during a processing operation.
Claims35
A method of semiconductor processing, comprising:
- introducing a plasma to a semiconductor surface within a processing chamber;
- exposing the semiconductor surface to an electron beam;
- utilizing a focused energetic beam to dissociate chemical species from the plasma to form an etching species to react with a first region of the semiconductor surface;
- and
- concurrently depositing a coating on a second region of the semiconductor surface.
A method of semiconductor processing, comprising:
- introducing a number of chemical species to a semiconductor surface within a processing chamber, wherein the chemical species includes;
- at least a portion of the chemical species in a plasma state;
- at least one non-ionized gas species;
- exposing the semiconductor surface to an electron beam;
- utilizing focused electron beam energy to dissociate one or more of the number of chemical species to form an etching species to react with a first region of the semiconductor surface;
- and
- concurrently depositing a coating on a second region of the semiconductor surface.
A method of semiconductor processing, comprising:
- introducing a carbon and halogen containing plasma to a semiconductor surface within a processing chamber;
- exposing the carbon and halogen containing plasma and the semiconductor surface to a focused electron beam;
- utilizing electron beam energy to dissociate chemical species from the plasma to form an etching species to etch a silicon oxide region of the semiconductor surface;
- and
- concurrently depositing a carbon containing coating on a silicon region of the semiconductor surface.
A method of semiconductor processing, comprising:
- introducing a plasma to a semiconductor surface within a processing chamber;
- exposing the semiconductor surface to an electron beam;
- utilizing focused electron beam energy to dissociate chemical species from the plasma to form an etching species to react with a first region of the semiconductor surface;
- concurrently depositing a coating on a second region of the semiconductor surface;
- and
- imaging the surface using the electron beam as a scanning electron microscope.
A method of forming a semiconductor memory device, comprising:
- processing a semiconductor surface to form a number of electronic structures including:
- forming a number of memory cells on a semiconductor surface;
- forming circuitry to couple the number of memory cells together;
- wherein processing a semiconductor surface includes:
- introducing a plasma to a semiconductor surface within a processing chamber;
- exposing the semiconductor surface to an electron beam;
- utilizing focused electron beam energy to dissociate chemical species from the plasma to form an etching species to react with a first region of the semiconductor surface;
- and
- concurrently depositing a coating on a second region of the semiconductor surface.
A method of forming an electronic system, comprising:
- processing a semiconductor surface to form a semiconductor memory having a number of electronic structures including:
- forming a number of memory cells on the semiconductor surface;
- forming circuitry to couple the number of memory cells together;
- wherein processing the semiconductor surface includes:
- introducing a plasma to a semiconductor surface within a processing chamber;
- exposing the semiconductor surface to an electron beam;
- utilizing focused electron beam energy to dissociate chemical species from the plasma to form an etching species to react with a first region of the semiconductor surface;
- concurrently depositing a coating on a second region of the semiconductor surface;
- and
- coupling a controller to the semiconductor memory.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.