Manufacturing method for forming a semiconductor structure

1. A method for forming an opening, comprising:

forming a hard mask material layer on a target layer, wherein the hard mask material layer is a single layer structure;

forming a tri-layer hard mask on the hard mask material layer, wherein the tri-layer hard mask includes an bottom organic layer (ODL), a middle silicon-containing hard mask bottom anti-reflection coating (SHB) layer and a top photoresist layer;

performing an etching process, to remove parts of the tri-layer hard mask, parts of the hard mask material layer and parts of the target layer in sequence, so as to form at least one opening in the target layer, wherein during the step for removing parts of the hard mask material layer, a lateral etching rate of the hard mask material layer is smaller than a lateral etching rate of the ODL; and

forming a cutting element on the target layer, and the cutting element still remains on the target layer after the etching process is performed.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the hard mask material layer is a deep ultraviolet light absorbing (DUO) layer.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the target layer contacts the hard mask material layer directly.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the ODL contacts the hard mask material layer directly.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the target layer is an interlayer dielectric (ILD).

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the target layer is a single layer structure.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein a top surface of the target layer is a flat surface, and the hard mask material layer is disposed on the flat surface.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising performing a clean process to remove the cutting element entirely after the opening is formed.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising filling a conductive layer in the opening, to form a contact plug, wherein the contact plug is electrically connected to at least one source/drain (S/D) region.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the etching process comprises a first etching step for removing the bottom organic dielectric layer (ODL) and a middle silicon-containing hard mask bottom anti-reflection coating (SHB) layer, a second etching step for removing the hard mask material layer, and a third etching step for removing the target layer.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein using a hydrogen/nitrogen (H 2 /N 2 ) gas during the first etching step is performed.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein using a tetrafluoromethane (CF 4 ) gas during the second etching step is performed.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein using an argon/oxygen (Ar/O 2 ) gas during the third etching step is performed.

14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising performing an ashing process for at least removing the ODL entirely after the opening is formed.

15. A method for forming an opening, comprising:

forming a deep ultraviolet light absorbing (DUO) layer on a target layer;

forming a tri-layer hard mask on the DUO layer, wherein the tri-layer hard mask includes an bottom organic layer (ODL), a middle silicon-containing hard mask bottom anti-reflection coating (SHB) layer and a top photoresist layer; and

performing an etching process, to remove parts of the tri-layer hard mask, parts of the DUO layer and parts of the target layer in sequence, so as to form at least one opening in the target layer, wherein during the step for removing parts of the hard mask material layer, a lateral etching rate of the hard mask material layer is smaller than a lateral etching rate of the ODL.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the target layer contacts the DUO layer directly.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein a top surface of the target layer is a flat surface, and the DUO layer is disposed on the flat surface.

18. The method of claim 15 , further comprising forming a cutting element on the target layer, and the cutting element still remains on the target layer after the etching process is performed.