Method of patterning a metal film with improved sidewall roughness

1. A method of plasma processing, the method comprising:

loading a substrate comprising a layer of a refractory metal into a plasma processing chamber, the layer of the refractory metal comprising crystals of the refractory metal with different orientations;

etching through the crystals of the layer of the refractory metal to form a recess with sidewalls, the etching comprising:

flowing oxygen at a first flow rate into the plasma processing chamber;

supplying power to sustain a plasma comprising the oxygen in the plasma processing chamber; and

while flowing the oxygen at the first flow rate, intermittently flowing a passivation gas comprising sulfur into the plasma processing chamber, the passivation gas comprising sulfur controlling the profile of the sidewalls by locally changing etch rates of the crystals in the layer of the refractory metal being etched.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein supplying the power comprises supplying the power at a first frequency and intermittently flowing the passivation gas comprises flowing the passivation gas at a second frequency lower than the first frequency.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein intermittently flowing the passivation gas comprises performing a cyclic process when supplying the power, the cyclic process comprising the steps of:

flowing the passivation gas into the plasma processing chamber for a first period of time; and

stopping the flowing of the passivation gas into the plasma processing chamber when supplying the power for a second period of time that is longer than the first period of time.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the refractory metal comprises a metal selected from the group consisting of ruthenium, osmium, iridium, molybdenum, and niobium.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the refractory metal comprises a layer of ruthenium, and wherein the passivation gas comprises SO2.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the passivation gas comprises a gas selected from a group consisting of SO2, SF6, SO, COS, and H2S.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising flowing an inert gas and a gas including chlorine into the plasma processing chamber while flowing the oxygen.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the gas including chlorine comprises a gas selected from a group consisting of Cl2, CCl4, CHCl3, and HCl.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the inert gas comprises a noble gas selected from a group consisting of helium, argon, xenon, and krypton.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

patterning a hard mask layer disposed over the layer of the refractory metal; and

the etching comprises patterning the layer of the refractory metal using the hard mask layer as an etch mask.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the refractory metal comprises a metal selected from the group consisting of a pure ruthenium, an alloy of ruthenium with other metals, molybdenum, niobium, pure osmium, an alloy of osmium with other metals, pure iridium, and an alloy of iridium with other metals thereof.

12. A method of plasma processing, the method comprising:

plasma etching a layer comprising ruthenium or molybdenum by continuously flowing a gas including chlorine into a plasma processing chamber;

sustaining a plasma in a plasma processing chamber; and

during the plasma etching, flowing a passivation gas including sulfur into the plasma processing chamber, wherein the flowing of the passivation gas comprises turning on and off the passivation gas over a first time period, and wherein the gas including chlorine is continuously flowed into the plasma processing chamber during the first time period.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the passivation gas comprises SO2.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the gas including chlorine comprises a gas selected from a group consisting of Cl2, CCl4, CHCl3, and HCl.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein a flow rate of the passivation gas is about 0.5% to 1% of a flow rate of the gas including chlorine.

16. The method of claim 12 , wherein the layer comprising ruthenium or molybdenum is a molybdenum layer, wherein the gas including chlorine comprises a gas selected from a group consisting of Cl2, CCl4, CHCl3, and HCl, and wherein the passivation gas comprises SO2.

17. A method comprising:

providing a plurality of substrates, each substrate comprising a layer of a refractory metal, the layer of the refractory metal comprising crystals of the refractory metal with different orientations;

loading each of the substrates into a plasma processing chamber;

for each of the substrates, forming a metal feature by etching through the crystals of the layer of the refractory metal, the etching comprising

flowing oxygen at a first flow rate into the plasma processing chamber,

supplying power to sustain a plasma comprising the oxygen in the plasma processing chamber, and

while flowing the oxygen at the first flow rate, intermittently flowing a passivation gas into the plasma processing chamber, wherein a flow rate of the passivation gas is different between each of the substrates;

measuring a resistance of the metal feature in each of the substrates; and

determining a second flow rate of the passivation gas based on the measured resistance of the metal feature in each of the substrates; and

etching a plurality of wafers by

flowing oxygen at the first flow rate into the plasma processing chamber,

supplying power to sustain a plasma comprising the oxygen in the plasma processing chamber, and

while flowing the oxygen at the first flow rate, intermittently flowing the passivation gas at the second flow rate into the plasma processing chamber.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the refractory metal is ruthenium and the passivation gas is SO2.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein the passivation gas comprises a gas selected from a group consisting of SO2, SF6, SO, COS, H2S, HBr, and SiCl4.

20. The method of claim 17 , further comprising flowing an inert gas and a gas including chlorine into the plasma processing chamber while flowing the oxygen, wherein the gas including chlorine comprises a gas selected from a group consisting of Cl2, CCl4, CHCl3, and HCl, and wherein the inert gas comprises a noble gas selected from a group consisting of helium, argon, xenon, and krypton.