Fullerene-based spin-on-carbon hardmask

A. Frommhold, J. Manyam, R.E. Palmer, A.P.G Robinson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Citations (Scopus)
291 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

As feature sizes have diminished the need for extremely thin photoresist films has grown. Given the poor selectivity of typical resists with respect to silicon during plasma etching, it has become common to use an intermediate hardmask to transfer the pattern. Furthermore the use of trilayer etch stacks to amplify the achievable etch aspect ratio is becoming increasingly popular for critical layers. Here we introduce a new fullerene based spin-on-carbon layer for use in a multilayer etch stack. Carbon films of between 20 and 1270 nm were prepared by spin coating. Thin silicon films were deposited on the carbon layer and patterned using a thin photoresist. Patterns were transferred to the carbon layer with high anisotropy at resolutions down to 40 nm using an oxygen plasma, and then subsequently etched into the silicon substrate using an SF6/C4F8 etch with high aspect ratio.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)552-555
JournalMicroelectronic Engineering
Volume98
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Oct 2012

Keywords

  • Spin-on carbon
  • Hardmask
  • Fullerene
  • ICP
  • Silicon etching

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