Method of forming small pitch pattern using double spacers
AssigneeSamsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
InventorsJi-young Lee, Joon-soo Park, Sang-gyun Woo
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of forming a small pitch pattern using double spacers is provided. A material layer and first hard masks are used and characterized by a line pattern having a smaller line width than a separation distance between adjacent mask elements. A first spacer layer covering sidewall portions of the first hard mask and a second spacer layer are formed, and spacer-etched, thereby forming a spacer pattern-shaped second hard mask on sidewall portions of the first hard mask. A portion of the first spacer layer between the first hard mask and the second hard mask is selectively removed. The material layer is selectively etched using the first and second hard masks as etch masks, thereby forming the small pitch pattern.
Claims19
A method of forming small pitch patterns comprising:
- forming a material layer on a semiconductor substrate;
- forming a first hard mask on the material layer, wherein the first mask layer is characterized by a smaller line width for mask elements than a separated distance between adjacent mask elements;
- forming a first spacer layer on the first hard mask to covering sidewall portions of the first hard mask;
- forming a second spacer layer on the first spacer layer, the second spacer layer having an etch selectivity with respect to the first spacer layer;
- forming a spacer pattern-shaped second hard mask on sidewall portions of the first hard mask by spacer-etching the second spacer layer;
- selectively removing a portion of the first spacer layer between the first hard mask and the second hard mask;
- forming a small pitch pattern by selectively etching the material layer using the combination of the first and second hard masks as an etch mask, and
- forming a third hard mask having a line width or a pitch different from that of the first hard mask concurrently when forming the first hard mask.
A method of forming small pitch patterns comprising:
- forming a material layer on a semiconductor substrate;
- forming a first hard mask on the material layer, wherein the first mask layer is characterized by a smaller line width for mask elements than a separated distance between adjacent mask elements;
- forming a first spacer layer on the first hard mask to covering sidewall portions of the first hard mask;
- forming a second spacer layer on the first spacer layer, the second spacer layer having an etch selectivity with respect to the first spacer layer;
- forming a spacer pattern-shaped second hard mask on sidewall portions of the first hard mask by spacer-etching the second spacer layer;
- selectively removing a portion of the first spacer layer between the first hard mask and the second hard mask;
- and
- forming a small pitch pattern by selectively etching the material layer using the combination of the first and second hard masks as an etch mask,
- wherein forming the first spacer layer comprises;
- performing an oxidation process to oxidize a portion of the first hard mask to a predetermined depth to thereby reduce a line width of the first hard mask.
A method of forming small pitch patterns comprising:
- forming a material layer on a semiconductor substrate;
- forming a first hard mask on the material layer, wherein the first mask layer is characterized by a smaller line width for mask elements than a separated distance between adjacent mask elements;
- forming a first spacer layer on the first hard mask to covering sidewall portions of the first hard mask;
- forming a second spacer layer on the first spacer layer, the second spacer layer having an etch selectivity with respect to the first spacer layer;
- forming a spacer pattern-shaped second hard mask on sidewall portions of the first hard mask by spacer-etching the second spacer layer;
- selectively removing a portion of the first spacer layer between the first hard mask and the second hard mask;
- and
- forming a small pitch pattern by selectively etching the material layer using the combination of the first and second hard masks as an etch mask,
- wherein the first spacer layer and the material layer are formed from the same material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.