RESIST TRANSFORMATION UNDER LOW-K DIELECTRIC PLASMA PATTERNING PROCESSES:IMPACT ON THE PROCESS CONTROL.

摘要

We are now entering an era where a very accurate control and understanding of plasma processes is required to ensure the appropriate scaling of sub 0.1 mum CMOS devices.All the processes involved in microelectronics for the front-end or back-end technologies use photoresist as a mask at least for the first steps of any front end and back end patterning processes.For instance,in the low-k dielectric etching processes,the resist is used during the BARC opening process as well as during the hard mask opening process ( SiC or SiO_2 being used as a hard mask ).An accurate control of these first steps is critical to ensure the control of final contact and via dimensions.However,resist can undergo some drastic modifications during plasma exposure,which can have an impact on the process control.