Step Coverage and Dry Etching Process Improvement of Amorphous Carbon Hard Mask
Amorphous carbon hard mask (ACHM) films have been widely applied as protective components and hard etching masks in lithography and dry etching processes. The capability of lithography is directly dependent on the step coverage (SC) of the ACHM. Poor SC may impact the protection of device patterns d...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-10-01
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| Series: | Electronics |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9292/10/20/2512 |
| _version_ | 1797514768039280640 |
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| author | Zheng Jiang Hao Zhu Qingqing Sun Davidwei Zhang |
| author_facet | Zheng Jiang Hao Zhu Qingqing Sun Davidwei Zhang |
| author_sort | Zheng Jiang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Amorphous carbon hard mask (ACHM) films have been widely applied as protective components and hard etching masks in lithography and dry etching processes. The capability of lithography is directly dependent on the step coverage (SC) of the ACHM. Poor SC may impact the protection of device patterns during the etching process and lead to overlay marks occurring in lithography. In this work, the ACHM film processing process is engineered and optimized towards better SC through the comparative study of the C<sub>2</sub>H<sub>2</sub> and C<sub>3</sub>H<sub>6</sub> precursors at different temperatures. Furthermore, a process parameter design of experiment (DOE), with C<sub>2</sub>H<sub>2</sub> as a precursor to optimize the dry etching rate, is proposed. The results of the experiment show that the dry etching performance is enhanced by higher power, temperature and C<sub>2</sub>H<sub>2</sub> flow, and a smaller gap, lower pressure and lower carrier gas flow. A selective etching ratio of SiO<sub>2</sub> and SiN, with an improved process window, is obtained. ACHM film elimination process is also validated by characterizing the surface roughness. The demonstrated results can be instructive in terms of the optimization of etching process in future semiconductor manufacturing. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T06:36:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0da6c2861a054aa885219b82866f39b6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-9292 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T06:36:15Z |
| publishDate | 2021-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Electronics |
| spelling | doaj.art-0da6c2861a054aa885219b82866f39b62023-11-22T18:02:24ZengMDPI AGElectronics2079-92922021-10-011020251210.3390/electronics10202512Step Coverage and Dry Etching Process Improvement of Amorphous Carbon Hard MaskZheng Jiang0Hao Zhu1Qingqing Sun2Davidwei Zhang3State Key Laboratory of ASIC and System, School of Microelectronics, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, ChinaState Key Laboratory of ASIC and System, School of Microelectronics, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, ChinaState Key Laboratory of ASIC and System, School of Microelectronics, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, ChinaState Key Laboratory of ASIC and System, School of Microelectronics, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, ChinaAmorphous carbon hard mask (ACHM) films have been widely applied as protective components and hard etching masks in lithography and dry etching processes. The capability of lithography is directly dependent on the step coverage (SC) of the ACHM. Poor SC may impact the protection of device patterns during the etching process and lead to overlay marks occurring in lithography. In this work, the ACHM film processing process is engineered and optimized towards better SC through the comparative study of the C<sub>2</sub>H<sub>2</sub> and C<sub>3</sub>H<sub>6</sub> precursors at different temperatures. Furthermore, a process parameter design of experiment (DOE), with C<sub>2</sub>H<sub>2</sub> as a precursor to optimize the dry etching rate, is proposed. The results of the experiment show that the dry etching performance is enhanced by higher power, temperature and C<sub>2</sub>H<sub>2</sub> flow, and a smaller gap, lower pressure and lower carrier gas flow. A selective etching ratio of SiO<sub>2</sub> and SiN, with an improved process window, is obtained. ACHM film elimination process is also validated by characterizing the surface roughness. The demonstrated results can be instructive in terms of the optimization of etching process in future semiconductor manufacturing.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9292/10/20/2512amorphous carbon hard maskstep coveragedry etchinglithographysurface roughness |
| spellingShingle | Zheng Jiang Hao Zhu Qingqing Sun Davidwei Zhang Step Coverage and Dry Etching Process Improvement of Amorphous Carbon Hard Mask Electronics amorphous carbon hard mask step coverage dry etching lithography surface roughness |
| title | Step Coverage and Dry Etching Process Improvement of Amorphous Carbon Hard Mask |
| title_full | Step Coverage and Dry Etching Process Improvement of Amorphous Carbon Hard Mask |
| title_fullStr | Step Coverage and Dry Etching Process Improvement of Amorphous Carbon Hard Mask |
| title_full_unstemmed | Step Coverage and Dry Etching Process Improvement of Amorphous Carbon Hard Mask |
| title_short | Step Coverage and Dry Etching Process Improvement of Amorphous Carbon Hard Mask |
| title_sort | step coverage and dry etching process improvement of amorphous carbon hard mask |
| topic | amorphous carbon hard mask step coverage dry etching lithography surface roughness |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9292/10/20/2512 |
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