Tin oxide and tin carbide materials for semiconductor patterning applications
A method and apparatus for patterning semiconductor materials using tin-based materials as mandrels, hardmasks, and liner materials are provided. One or more implementations of the present disclosure use tin-oxide and/or tin-carbide materials as hardmask materials, mandrel materials, and/or liner material during various patterning applications. Tin-oxide or tin-carbide materials are easy to strip relative to other high selectivity materials like metal oxides (e.g., TiO 2 , ZrO 2 , HfO 2 , Al 2 O 3 ) to avoid influencing critical dimensions and generate defects. In addition, tin-oxide and tin-carbide have low refractive index, k-value, and are transparent under 663-nm for lithography overlay.
1. A method of forming features on a substrate, comprising:
forming a hardmask layer on a film stack formed over a substrate, wherein the hardmask layer comprises tin-oxide or tin carbide and the film stack comprises oxide-nitride-oxide (ONO) layers;
disposing a patterned photoresist layer on the hardmask layer having openings therethrough;
supplying a first etching gas mixture into a processing chamber containing the substrate; and
etching the hardmask layer exposed by the openings of the patterned photoresist layer to form a patterned hardmask layer.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
supplying a second etching gas mixture into a processing chamber containing the substrate; and
etching the film stack exposed by the patterned hardmask layer.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first etching gas mixture comprises a halogen-containing gas.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the halogen-containing gas is selected from Cl 2 gas, HBr gas, or a combination thereof.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the first etching gas mixture further comprises a passivation gas selected from N 2 , O 2 , COS, SO 2 , or a combination thereof.
6. A method of forming features on a substrate, comprising:
forming a hardmask layer on a film stack formed over a substrate, wherein the hardmask layer comprises tin-oxide or tin carbide and the film stack comprises alternating layers of silicon and silicon germanium;
disposing a patterned photoresist layer on the hardmask layer having openings therethrough;
supplying a first etching gas mixture into a processing chamber containing the substrate; and
etching the hardmask layer exposed by the openings of the patterned photoresist layer to form a patterned hardmask layer.
7. A method of forming features on a substrate, comprising:
forming a patterned hardmask layer on a film stack formed over a substrate, wherein the patterned hardmask layer comprises carbon and the film stack comprises oxide-nitride-oxide (ONO) layers;
supplying a first etching gas mixture into a processing chamber containing the substrate;
etching the film stack exposed by the hardmask layer to form a patterned film stack;
forming a liner layer on the patterned hardmask layer and the patterned film stack exposed between the patterned hardmask layer, wherein the liner layer comprises tin-oxide or tin-carbide, and
exposing the liner layer to wet chemistry or dry plasma to remove the liner layer and the patterned filmstack exposed between the patterned hardmask layer.
8. A method of forming features on a substrate, comprising:
forming a patterned hardmask layer on a film stack formed over a substrate, wherein the patterned hardmask layer comprises carbon and the film stack comprises alternating layers of silicon and silicon germanium;
supplying a first etching gas mixture into a processing chamber containing the substrate;
etching the film stack exposed by the hardmask layer to form a patterned film stack;
forming a liner layer on the patterned hardmask layer and the patterned film stack exposed between the patterned hardmask layer, wherein the liner layer comprises tin-oxide or tin-carbide, and
exposing the liner layer to wet chemistry or dry plasma to remove the liner layer and the patterned filmstack exposed between the patterned hardmask layer.