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US 8,282,842 B2Granted
Cleaning method following opening etch
AssigneeUnited Microelectronics Corp.
InventorsChieh-Ju Wang, Jyh-Cherng Yau, Yu-Tsung Lai, Jiunn-Hsiung Liao
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Abstract
A cleaning method following an opening etching is provided. First, a semiconductor substrate having a dielectric layer is provided. The hard mask layer includes at least a metal layer. The opening etch is then carried out to form at least an opening in the dielectric layer. A nitrogen (N2) treatment process is performed to clean polymer residues having carbon-fluorine (C—F) bonds remained in the opening. Finally, a wet cleaning process is performed.
Claims16
A cleaning method following an opening etch, comprising:
- providing a substrate having a dielectric layer formed with a low-k material;
- performing the opening etch to form at least an opening in the dielectric layer;
- performing a nitrogen treatment process to clean polymer residues having carbon-fluorine (C—F) bonds remained and disposed at two sidewalls and the bottom of the opening by using only nitrogen gas or a noble gas;
- and
- performing a wet cleaning process.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.