Abstract: A method of smoothing the sidewalls of an etched feature using reactive plasma milling. The method of smoothing reduces the depth of sidewall notching, which causes the roughness on the feature wall surface. The method comprises removing residual polymeric materials from the interior and exterior surfaces of said silicon-comprising feature and treating the interior surface of the silicon-comprising feature with a reactive plasma generated from a source gas while the silicon-comprising feature is biased with a pulsed RF power. The source gas includes a reagent which reacts with the silicon and an inert gas. The method provides a depth of a notch on the interior surface of about 500 nm or less.

Abstract: Embodiments of the invention provide a method and apparatus, such as a processing chamber, suitable for etching high aspect ratio features. Other embodiments include a showerhead assembly for use in the processing chamber. In one embodiment, a processing chamber includes a chamber body having a showerhead assembly and substrate support disposed therein. The showerhead assembly includes at least two fluidly isolated plenums, a region transmissive to an optical metrology signal, and a plurality of gas passages formed through the showerhead assembly fluidly coupling the plenums to the interior volume of the chamber body.

Abstract: A method of smoothing the sidewalls of an etched feature using reactive plasma milling. The method of smoothing reduces the depth of sidewall notching, which causes the roughness on the feature wall surface. The method comprises removing residual polymeric materials from the interior and exterior surfaces of said silicon-comprising feature and treating the interior surface of the silicon-comprising feature with a reactive plasma generated from a source gas while the silicon-comprising feature is biased with a pulsed RF power. The source gas includes a reagent which reacts with the silicon and an inert gas. The method provides a depth of a notch on the interior surface of about 500 nm or less.

Abstract: Embodiments of the invention provide a method and apparatus, such as a processing chamber, suitable for etching high aspect ratio features. Other embodiments include a showerhead assembly for use in the processing chamber. In one embodiment, a processing chamber includes a chamber body having a showerhead assembly and substrate support disposed therein. The showerhead assembly includes at least two fluidly isolated plenums, a region transmissive to an optical metrology signal, and a plurality of gas passages formed through the showerhead assembly fluidly coupling the plenums to the interior volume of the chamber body.

Abstract: Trench and stacked capacitors are commonly used in the construction of DRAMs utilized in electronic devices. Conventional methods of manufacture typically result in capacitor structures having relatively smooth sidewall profiles which are integrated into a capacitor structure. The present invention provides a novel method by which the capacitance density of both trench and stacked capacitors can be increased, without increasing the footprint or depth of the capacitor structure, by increasing the surface area of the sidewall profiles of the capacitor structures using an iterative etch process that comprises an isotropic plasma etching step to achieve an enlarged sidewall profile.