The effects of HBr/Ar and HBr/Cl 2 mixing ratios in the ranges of 0-100% Ar or Cl 2 on plasma parameters, densities of active species influencing the dry etch mechanisms were analyzed at fixed total gas flow rate of 40 sccm, total gas pressure of 6 mTorr, input power of 700 W and bias power of 300 W. The investigation combined plasma diagnostics by Langmuir probes and the 0-dimensional plasma modeling. It was found that the dilution of HBr by Ar results in maximum effect on the ion energy flux with expected impact on the etch rate in the ion-flux-limited etch regime, while the addition of Cl 2 influences mainly the relative fluxes of Br and Cl atoms on the etched surface with expected impact on the etch rate in the reaction-rate-limited etch regime.

In this article, we report the surface modification of silicon by an inductively coupled CHF3/O2 plasma treatment for demolding process in nano-imprint lithography. The effects of O2 addition to the CHF3 plasma on the surface polymer were investigated. The Si surface energy remained nearly constant at O2 gas fraction from 0% to 50%, but it increased up to ∼60 mN/m at O2 gas fraction of 60%. In order to examine the relationship between the plasma and surface energy of Si, we attempted to conduct a model-based analysis of the CHF3/O2 plasma. Plasma diagnostics were performed by using a double Langmuir probe. At the same time, the surface analysis of Si was carried out by contact angle measurements and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.

No abstract

In today's semiconductor industry, prior to wafer fabrication, it has become a desirable practice to scan layout designs for lithography-induced defects using advanced process window simulations in conjunction with corresponding manufacturing checks. This methodology has been proven to provide the highest level of accuracy when correlating systematic defects found on the wafer with those identified through simulation. To date, when directly applying this methodology at the full chip level, there has been unfavorable expenses incurred that are associated with simulation which are currently overshadowing its primary benefit of accuracy -namely, long runtimes and the requirement for an abundance of cpus. Considering the aforementioned, the industry has begun to lean towards a more practical application for hotspot identification that revolves around topological pattern recognition in an attempt to sidestep the simulation runtime. This solution can be much less costly when weighing against the negative runtime overhead of simulation. The apparent benefits of pattern matching are, however, counterbalanced with a fundamental concern regarding detection accuracy; topological pattern identification can only detect polygonal configurations, or some derivative of a configuration, which have been previously identified. It is evident that both systems have their strengths and their weaknesses, and that one system's strength is the other's weakness, and vice-versa.A novel hotspot detection methodology that utilizes pattern matching combined with lithographic simulation will be introduced. This system will attempt to minimize the negative aspects of both pattern matching and simulation. The proposed methodology has a high potential to decrease the amount of processing time spent during simulation, to relax the high cpu count requirement, and to maximize pattern matching accuracy by incorporating a multi-staged pattern matching flow prior to performing simulation on a reduced data set. Also brought forth will be an original methodology for constructing the core pattern set, or candidate hotspot library, in conjunction with establishing hotspot and coldspot pattern libraries. Lastly, it will be conveyed how this system can automatically improve its potential as more designs are passed through it.

An investigation of the etching characteristics of Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (PZT), Pt, SiO2 and Si3N4 in an inductively coupled HBr/Ar plasma as functions of gas mixing ratio at a constant gas pressure (4 mTorr), total gas flow rate (40 sccm), input power (700 W) and bias power (300 W) was carried out. It was found that the PZT etching rate exhibits a maximum at 60–70% Ar, while the highest PZT/Si3N4, PZT/SiO2 and PZT/Platinum (Pt) etch selectivities correspond to 40%, 60% and 100% Ar, respectively. Plasma diagnostics by a double Langmuir probe and a global (zero-dimensional) plasma model provided data on plasma parameters, densities and fluxes of plasma active species. It was proposed that, in HBr-rich plasmas, the PZT etching process appears in the transitional etch regime of the ion-assisted chemical reaction and the non-monotonic behavior of the PZT etching rate results from the concurrence of both chemical and physical etch pathways.