Preparation and analysis of amorphous carbon films deposited from (C6H12)/Ar/He chemistry for application as the dry etch hard mask in the semiconductor manufacturing process

Lee, Seungmoo; Won, Jonghan; Choi, Joon-Ho; Jang, Samseok; Jee, Young A.; Lee, Hyeon-Deok; Byun, Dongjin

doi:10.1016/j.tsf.2011.01.405

Cited by 13 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 12 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The 3-sigma value of etch rate with C 3 H 6 was 6.37%, and the value was 7.40% with C 2 H 2 , which was slightly higher than C 3 H 6 . This suggests that ACHM with C 3 H 6 had better uniformity and lower etch rate variation, which are critical factors considering practical applications in 3D-NAND fabrication process [19]. From the above results, higher temperatures will decrease the non-uniformity and etch rate, which were considered more important as a dry etch hard mask in 3D-NAND application due to the direct impact on yield data and process cost.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 84%

“…The properties of such coatings are directly related to the hybridization state of carbon bonds and the hydrogen content [13][14][15][16]. ACHM can be deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) with various carbon sources, such as methane (CH 4 ), acetylene (C 2 H 2 ), propylene (C 3 H 6 ) and 1-hexene (C 6 H 12 ) [17][18][19]. However, an experimental study comparing the film deposition, dry etch characteristics and approaches for higher selective ratios by using different precursors have been rarely reported.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Process Optimization of Amorphous Carbon Hard Mask in Advanced 3D-NAND Flash Memory Applications

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Amorphous carbon hard mask (ACHM) films are widely used as etching hard masks in 3D-NAND flash memory, which has put forward higher requirements in the film deposition rate, film transparency, uniformity, and selective etching. In this work, the ACHM film processing is engineered and optimized by comparatively studying acetylene (C2H2) and propylene (C3H6) as carbon sources at the different temperatures of 300 °C, 350 °C and 400 °C. By increasing the deposition temperature, the deposition rate, non-uniformity, and dry etch rate of ACHM are improved at the penalty of a slightly increased extinction coefficient of the film, due to lower incorporation of hydrocarbon reactants absorbed into film at higher temperatures. However, the Fourier transformation infrared (FTIR) spectrum intensity is decreased with the increase of the deposition temperature. The lower dry etch rate of ACHM is achieved by using C3H6 as a carbon source deposited at 400 °C. The best dry etch selective ratio values are also achieved with 10.9 and 9.5 for SiO2 and SiN, respectively. These experimental results can be very promising in the advancement of etching process in 3D-NAND applications.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 84%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Process Optimization of Amorphous Carbon Hard Mask in Advanced 3D-NAND Flash Memory Applications

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Higher power also enhanced the neutral and ion bombardment energy to the surface, which increased the building of sp3 structures. Therefore, these two parameters both brought greater benefits in terms of deceasing the etching rate during the etching process [13]. Figure 5b shows the dependence of ER on the temperature and the C 2 H 2 flow rate.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Step Coverage and Dry Etching Process Improvement of Amorphous Carbon Hard Mask

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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 C2H2 and C3H6 precursors at different temperatures. Furthermore, a process parameter design of experiment (DOE), with C2H2 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 C2H2 flow, and a smaller gap, lower pressure and lower carrier gas flow. A selective etching ratio of SiO2 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.

show abstract

“…In a plasma-processing reactor, the temperature of the reactor is often considered an important factor that could be adjusted to optimize the process. For instance, the temperature of the wafer pedestal should be finely modulated to heat wafers to the targeted temperatures during the manufacturing process [10][11][12][13]. Similarly, the temperature of the showerhead electrode should also be tightly controlled during the process.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhancement of Cleanliness and Deposition Rate by Understanding the Multiple Roles of the Showerhead Electrode in a Capacitively Coupled Plasma Reactor

Kim

2021

Coatings

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Increasing the productivity of a showerhead-type capacitively coupled plasma (CCP) reactor requires an in-depth understanding of various physical phenomena related to the showerhead, which is not only responsible for gas distribution, but also acts as the electrode. Thus, we investigated how to enhance the cleanliness and deposition rate by studying the multiple roles of the showerhead electrode in a CCP reactor. We analyzed the gas transport in a three-dimensional complex geometry, and the SiH4/He discharges were simulated in a two-dimensional simplified geometry. The process volume was installed between the showerhead electrode (radio frequency powered) and the heater electrode (grounded). Our aim of research was to determine the extent to which the heated showerhead contributed to increasing the deposition rate and to reducing the size of the large particles generated during processing. The temperature of the showerhead was increased to experimentally measure the number of particles transported onto the heater to demonstrate the effects thereof on the decrease in contamination. The number of particles larger than 45 nm decreased by approximately 93% when the showerhead temperature increased from 373 to 553 K.

show abstract

Preparation and analysis of amorphous carbon films deposited from (C6H12)/Ar/He chemistry for application as the dry etch hard mask in the semiconductor manufacturing process

Cited by 13 publications

References 12 publications

Process Optimization of Amorphous Carbon Hard Mask in Advanced 3D-NAND Flash Memory Applications

Process Optimization of Amorphous Carbon Hard Mask in Advanced 3D-NAND Flash Memory Applications

Step Coverage and Dry Etching Process Improvement of Amorphous Carbon Hard Mask

Enhancement of Cleanliness and Deposition Rate by Understanding the Multiple Roles of the Showerhead Electrode in a Capacitively Coupled Plasma Reactor

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About