Methods of modifying oxide spacers
AssigneeMicron Technology, Inc.
InventorsJoseph Neil Greeley, Paul Morgan, Mark Kiehlbauch
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Methods for reducing line roughness of spacers and other features utilizing a non-plasma and non-wet etch fluoride processing technology are provided. Embodiments of the methods can be used for spacer or line reduction and/or smoothing the surfaces along the edges of such features through the reaction and subsequent removal of material.
Claims17
A method of reducing line width roughness (LWR) of edges of spacers of a hardmask extending in a spaced and generally parallel relation to one another, the method comprising:
- performing a chemical oxide removal to convert a portion of the spacers along the edges to a layer of a decomposable compound;
- and
- treating the layer of the decomposable compound to remove said layer from the edges of the spacers;
- wherein the line width roughness (LWR) of the edges of the spacers is reduced.
A method of reducing line roughness of an edge of spacers of a hardmask extending in a spaced and generally parallel relation to one another, the edge of the spacers having convex and concave portions, the method comprising:
- performing a chemical oxide removal to convert the convex portions along said edge of the spacers to a decomposable material;
- and
- treating the decomposable material to remove said material from said edge of the spacers;
- wherein the line roughness of the edges of the spacers is reduced.
A method of reducing line roughness of an edge of spacers of a hardmask extending in a spaced and generally parallel relation to one another, the edge of the spacers having convex and concave portions, the method comprising:
- exposing the spacers to a gas mixture of ammonia gas and hydrogen fluoride gas to convert the convex portions along the edge of the spacers to a layer of ammonium hexafluorosilicate ((NH4)2SiF6);
- and
- decomposing the ammonium hexafluorosilicate layer wherein the roughness of the edge of the spacers is reduced.
A method of reducing line width roughness (LWR) of edges of spacers of a hardmask extending in a spaced and generally parallel relation to one another, the method comprising:
- performing a chemical oxide removal to convert about 0.1-5 nm thickness;
- of convex portions of the spacers along the edges to a layer of a decomposable compound, the spacers comprising an oxide material selected from the group consisting of silicon oxide, tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) oxide, and silicon-rich silicon oxynitride;
- and
- removing the layer of the decomposable compound to reduce the line width roughness (LWR) of the edges of the spacers.
A method of reducing line width roughness (LWR) of edges of spacers of a hardmask extending in a spaced and generally parallel relation to one another, the method comprising:
- performing a chemical oxide removal to convert about 0.1-5 nm thickness;
- of convex portions of the spacers along the edges to a layer of a decomposable compound, the spacers comprising an oxide material selected from the group consisting of silicon oxide, tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) oxide, and silicon-rich silicon oxynitride;
- removing the layer of the decomposable compound to reduce the line width roughness (LWR) of the edges of the spacers;
- and
- depositing oxide onto the spacers to modify the shape of the spacers.
A method of reducing line width roughness (LWR) of spacers of a hardmask extending in a spaced and generally parallel relation to one another, the spacers having an edge profile comprising convex areas and concave areas and an initial convex-to-concave area LWR amplitude, the method comprising:
- performing a chemical oxide removal to convert a portion of the spacers along said edge to a layer of a decomposable compound;
- and
- treating the layer of the decomposable compound to remove said layer from said edge of the spacers;
- wherein the convex-to-concave area LWR amplitude of the edge profile of the spacers is reduced.
A method of reducing line roughness of an edge of spacers of a hardmask extending in a spaced and generally parallel relation to one another, the spacers having a variable critical dimension along a length of the spacers, the method comprising:
- exposing the spacers to a gas mixture of ammonia gas and hydrogen fluoride gas to convert convex portions along the edge of the spacers to a layer of ammonium hexafluorosilicate ((NH4)2SiF6);
- and
- decomposing the ammonium hexafluorosilicate layer wherein the roughness of the edge of the spacers is reduced and the critical dimension of the spacers is substantially the same along said length of the spacers.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.