IP Library Granted Patent US 11,615,964
Granted Patent B2
US 11,615,964 · App. 17/692,227 · Granted Mar 28, 2023

Etching method

Inventors: Takahiro Yokoyama (Miyagi, JP); Maju Tomura (Miyagi, JP); Yoshihide Kihara (Miyagi, JP); Ryutaro Suda (Miyagi, JP); Takatoshi Orui (Miyagi, JP)
Assignee: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
H01L21/3065H01L21/31116H01L21/32137
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,615,964
App. No.
17/692,227
Granted
Mar 28, 2023
Kind
B2
Abstract

An etching method in accordance with the present disclosure includes providing a substrate, which includes a silicon-containing film, in a chamber; and etching the silicon-containing film with a chemical species in plasma generated from a process gas supplied in the chamber. The process gas includes a phosphorus gas component and a fluorine gas component.

Claims (80)

1. A plasma treatment system for etching a silicon-containing film of a substrate haying the silicon-containing film and a mask, the plasma treatment system comprising:

a chamber;

a substrate support to support the substrate in the chamber;

a gas supply to supply a process gas in the chamber, the process gas containing a hydrogen fluoride gas component, a phosphorus gas component, and a carbon gas component; and

control circuitry configured to

control the gas supply to supply the process gas in the chamber to etch the silicon-containing film using the process gas, the silicon-containing film being supported by the substrate support, and

control a plasma generator to generate plasma from the process gas in the chamber, wherein

the silicon-containing film includes a silicon oxide film or a stack film having a silicon oxide film and a silicon nitride film,

the phosphorus gas component includes at least one component selected from the group consisting of PF 3 , PF 5 , and PCl 3 , and

the carbon gas component include; at least one component selected from the group consisting of C 4 F 6 , C 4 F 8 , CH 2 F 2 , CH 3 F, C 3 H 2 F 4 and C 4 H 2 F 6 .

2. The plasma treatment system of claim 1 , wherein a flow rate of the hydrogen fluoride gas component is larger than a flow rate of the phosphorus gas component and larger than a flow rate of the carbon gas component.

3. The plasma treatment system of claim 1 , wherein

the process gas further includes a rare gas, and

among the flow rates of all gases in the process gas excluding the rare gas, the flow rate of the hydrogen fluoride gas component is largest.

4. The plasma treatment system of claim 1 , further comprising:

a chiller to supply a heat exchange medium into a flow channel in a bottom electrode of the substrate support, wherein

the control circuitry is further configured to

control the chiller to supply the heat exchange medium into the flow channel, and

set the temperature of the substrate support to a temperature of 0° C. or less or −40° C. or less before generating the plasma.

5. The plasma treatment system of claim 1 , wherein the process gas further includes a fluorine-free halogen gas component.

6. The plasma treatment system of claim 1 , wherein the process gas further includes an oxygen gas component.

7. The plasma treatment system of claim 2 , wherein a proportion of the flow rate of the hydrogen fluoride gas component to the flow rate of the process gas is 50% or more and less than 99%.

8. The plasma treatment system of claim 2 , wherein a proportion of the flow rate of the phosphorous gas component to the flow rate of the process gas is 1% or more and 20% or less.

9. The plasma treatment system of claim 1 , wherein the plasma treatment system is a capacitively coupled plasma treatment system.

10. The plasma treatment system of claim 9 , further comprising:

the plasma generator, wherein

the plasma generator includes a radio-frequency power source to generate radio-frequency power, and

the radio-frequency power source supplies the radio-frequency power to a bottom electrode of the substrate support to generate the plasma.

11. The plasma treatment system of claim 9 , further comprising:

an upper electrode disposed above the substrate support; and

the plasma generator, wherein

the plasma generator includes the radio-frequency power source to generate radio-frequency power, and

the radio-frequency power source supplies the radio-frequency power to the upper electrode to generate the plasma.

12. The plasma. treatment system of claim 10 , wherein a frequency of the radio-frequency power is within a frequency range from 27 MHz, to 100 MHz.

13. The plasma treatment system of claim 1 , wherein the plasma treatment system is an inductively coupled plasma treatment system.

14. A plasma treatment system, comprising:

a chamber;

a substrate support to support a substrate in the chamber;

a gas supply to supply a process gas in the chamber, the process gas containing a phosphorus gas component, a fluorine gas component, and a hydrogen gas component containing at least one component selected from the group consisting of hydrogen fluoride, H 2 , ammonia, and hydrocarbons; and

control circuitry configured to

control the gas supply to supply the process gas into the chamber to etch a silicon-containing film using the process gas, the silicon-containing film being supported by the substrate support, and

control a plasma generator to generate plasma from the process gas in the chamber.

15. The plasma treatment system of claim 14 , wherein the phosphorus gas component includes a fluorine component.

16. The plasma. treatment system of claim 14 , wherein the phosphorus gas component includes PF 3 or PF 5 .

17. The plasma treatment system of claim 14 , wherein the fluorine gas component includes at least one gas selected from the group consisting of a fluorocarbon gas component and a carbon-free fluorine gas component.

18. The plasma treatment system of claim 17 , wherein the process gas further includes a hydrofluorocarbon gas component.

19. The plasma treatment system of claim 17 , wherein the fluorocarbon gas includes at least one fluorocarbon gas component selected from the group consisting of CF 4 , C 3 F 8 , C 4 F 6 , and C 4 F 8 .

20. The plasma treatment system of claim 19 , wherein the carbon-free fluorine gas component is nitrogen trifluoride gas or sulfur hexafluoride gas.

21. The plasma treatment system of claim 14 , wherein the process gas further includes a halogen gas component containing a halogen component other than fluorine component.

22. A plasma treatment system, comprising:

a chamber;

a substrate support to support a substrate in the chamber;

a gas supply to supply a process gas in the chamber, the process gas containing a phosphorus gas component, a fluorine gas component, a hydrofluorocarbon gas component, and a halogen gas component containing a halogen component other than fluorine component; and

control circuitry configured to

control the gas supply to supply the process gas into the chamber to etch a silicon-containing film using the process gas the silicon-containing film being supported by the substrate support, and

control a plasma generator to generate plasma from the process gas in the chamber.

23. The plasma treatment system of claim 22 , wherein the fluorine gas component includes at least one gas selected from the group consisting of a fluorocarbon gas component and a carbon-free fluorine gas component.

24. The plasma treatment system of claim 22 , wherein the halogen gas component is Cl 2 gas and/or HBr gas.

25. The plasma treatment system of claim 22 , wherein

a ratio of a flow rate of a second gas to a flow rate of a first gas in the process gas is above 0 and 0.5 or less,

the first gas is all gases included in the process gas excluding the phosphorus gas component, and

the second gas is the phosphorus gas component.

26. The plasma treatment system of claim 25 , wherein the ratio is 0.075 or more and 0.3 or less.

27. The plasma treatment system of claim 22 , wherein

the substrate support includes a bottom electrode,

the plasma treatment system further comprises a bias power source electrically coupled to the bottom electrode,

the bias power source periodically applies pulsed bias electric power to the bottom electrode, when the plasma is present in the chamber, and

the bias electric power is radio-frequency bias electric power or pulsed DC voltage with negative polarity.

28. The plasma treatment system of claim 27 , wherein a frequency defining a period in which the pulsed bias electric power is applied to the bottom electrode is 5 Hz or higher and 100 kHz or lower.

29. The plasma treatment system of claim 22 . further comprising:

a chiller to supply a heat exchange medium into a flow channel in a bottom electrode of the substrate support, wherein

the control circuitry is further configured to

control the chiller to supply the heat exchange medium into the flow channel, and

set the temperature of the substrate support to a temperature of 0° C. or less before generating the plasma.

30. A method of etching, comprising:

(a) providing a substrate, having a silicon-containing film and a mask, in a chamber of a plasma treatment system; and

(b) generating plasma from a process gas in the chamber to etch the silicon-containing film using the process gas, the process gas including a hydrogen fluoride gas component, a phosphorus gas component, and a carbon gas component, wherein

the silicon-containing film includes a silicon oxide film or a stack film having a silicon oxide film and a silicon nitride film,

the phosphorus gas component includes at least one component selected from the group consisting of PF 3 , PF 5 , and PCl 3 , and

the carbon gas component includes at least one component selected from the group consisting of C 4 F 6 , C 4 F 8 , CH 2 F 2 , CH 3 F, CHF 3 , C 3 H 2 F 4 , and C 4 H 2 F 6 .

Priority Claims (3)
JP JP2019-203326 · Nov 8, 2019 · national
WO PCT/JP2020/005847 · Feb 14, 2020 · international
JP JP2020-152786 · Sep 11, 2020 · national
Continuity (3)
Continuation 17666570 · Feb 8, 2022
Continuation PCTJP2020041026 · Nov 2, 2020
Related Publication 20220199412A1 · Jun 23, 2022
Cited By (1)
US 12,249,486