Granted Patent B2

US 12,416,863 · App. 17/349,534 · Granted Sep 16, 2025

Inventors: Yuqiong Dai (Santa Clara, CA); Madhur Sachan (Belmont, CA); Regina Freed (Los Altos, CA); Hoyung David Hwang (Cupertino, CA)

Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc.

G03F7/40C23C16/06G03F7/0047G03F7/162G03F7/20

Abstract

Claims (28)

1. A method of developing a metal oxo photoresist, comprising:

providing a substrate with the metal oxo photoresist into a chamber, wherein the metal oxo photoresist comprises exposed regions and unexposed regions, the exposed regions comprising a first non-zero carbon concentration, and the unexposed regions comprising a second non-zero carbon concentration, and wherein the second non-zero carbon concentration of the unexposed regions is higher than the first non-zero carbon concentration of the exposed regions;

flowing a gas into the chamber for a duration between 5 seconds and 120 seconds, wherein the gas reacts with the unexposed regions with a selectivity greater than 10:1 compared to the exposed regions to produce a volatile byproduct, and wherein the gas comprises a reactive gas comprising one or more of Br 2 or HCl, the gas has a pressure between 5 mTorr and 20 mTorr in the chamber, the substrate has a temperature between 40° C. and 100° C., wherein the chamber is powered by a source of between 200 W and 1200 W, and a power bias between 0 W and 200 W; and

etching the substrate before removing the substrate from the chamber.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

striking a plasma in the chamber.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the gas further comprises an inert gas.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein a ratio of a flowrate of the inert gas to a flowrate of the reactive gas is between 0:1 and 50:1.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein reacting the gas with the unexposed regions is implemented with a thermal process without a plasma.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the power bias is pulsed, wherein the pulsing has a duty cycle between 0% and 100%.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the metal oxo photoresist comprises SnOC.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the exposed regions comprise a cross-linked metal oxide network, and wherein the unexposed regions comprise a metal oxide cluster.

9. A method of developing a metal oxo photoresist, comprising:

providing a substrate with the metal oxo photoresist on a surface of the substrate;

exposing the metal oxo photoresist to form exposed regions and unexposed regions, the exposed regions comprising a first non-zero carbon concentration, and the unexposed regions comprising a second non-zero carbon concentration, wherein the second non-zero carbon concentration of the unexposed regions is higher than the first non-zero carbon concentration of the exposed regions;

placing the substrate in a plasma chamber;

flowing a gas into the plasma chamber for a duration between 5 seconds and 120 seconds, wherein the gas reacts with the unexposed regions with a selectivity greater than 10:1 compared to the exposed regions to produce a volatile byproduct, and wherein the gas comprises a reactive gas comprising one or more of Br 2 or HCl, the gas has a pressure between 5 mTorr and 20 mTorr in the chamber, the substrate has a temperature between 40° C. and 100° C., wherein the chamber is powered by a source of between 200 W and 1200 W, and a power bias between 0 W and 200 W;

striking a plasma in the plasma chamber, wherein the plasma reacts with the unexposed regions to produce a volatile byproduct;

purging the plasma chamber; and

etching the substrate before removing the substrate from the plasma chamber.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the gas further comprises an inert gas.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein a ratio of a flowrate of the inert gas to a flowrate of the reactive gas is between 0:1 and 50:1.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the metal oxo photoresist comprises SnOC.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein exposing the metal oxo photoresist comprises exposing the metal oxo photoresist to extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reactive gas is Br 2 .

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reactive gas is HCl.

16. The method of claim 9 , wherein the reactive gas is Br 2 .

17. The method of claim 9 , wherein the reactive gas is HCl.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (185)