ATOMIC LAYER ETCHING, REACTIVE PRECURSORS AND ENERGETIC SOURCES FOR PATTERNING APPLICATIONS

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide methods and apparatuses for patterning a carbon-containing material over a layer to be etched.;SOLUTION: Methods comprise the step of trimming a carbon-containing material by atomic layer etching. The atom layer etching includes the steps of: exposing the carbon-containing material to an oxygen-containing gas without a plasma to modify a surface of the carbon-containing material; and exposing the carbon-containing material to an inert gas and igniting a plasma to remove the modified surface of the carbon-containing material. The methods further comprise the step of depositing a conformal film over a carbon-containing material patterned by atomic layer etching without breaking vacuum. The oxygen-containing gas may be one containing any one or more of oxygen, ozone, water vapor, nitrous oxide, carbon monoxide, formic acid vapor and/or carbon dioxide. The apparatus may include 27 and/or 13 MHz capacitively coupled plasmas, and/or inductively coupled plasmas such as remote plasmas.;SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3;COPYRIGHT: (C)2019,JPO&INPIT