Process Specially Adapted To Improve The Resolution Of The Mask (epo) Patents (Class 257/E21.039)
  • Patent number: 7507674
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing a memory device including a resistance change layer as a storage node according to example embodiment(s) of the present invention and a memory device made by the method(s) are provided. Pursuant to example embodiments of the present invention, the method may include stacking (sequentially or otherwise) a conductive material layer, a diode layer and a data storage layer on a bottom layer, forming a first material layer on the data storage layer, forming a first hole exposing the data storage layer in the first material layer, forming a first spacer with a second material layer on the sidewall of the first hole, filling the first hole with a third material layer and covering the first spacer; removing the first material layer, forming a second spacer with a fourth material layer on the sidewall of the first spacer; removing the third material layer, and forming a second hole exposing the bottom layer in a first stack structure using the first and second spacers as a mask.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2005
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2009
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoon-Dong Park, Won-Joo Kim, Sang-Hun Jeon
  • Publication number: 20090075485
    Abstract: A method for forming a fine pattern of a semiconductor device comprises: forming a first hard mask film and an etch barrier film over a semiconductor substrate; forming a sacrificial pattern over the etch barrier film; forming a spacer on sidewalls of the sacrificial pattern; removing the sacrificial pattern; etching the etch barrier film and the hard mask film with the spacer as an etch mask to form an etch barrier pattern and a hard mask pattern; and removing the spacer and the etch barrier pattern, thereby improving yield and reliability of the device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 27, 2008
    Publication date: March 19, 2009
    Applicant: Hynix Semiconductor Inc
    Inventors: Keun Do BAN, Jun Hyeub SUN
  • Publication number: 20090061641
    Abstract: In a method of forming micro patterns, an etch target layer, a hard mask layer, a silicon-containing bottom anti-reflective coating (BARC) layer, and first auxiliary patterns are formed over a semiconductor substrate. The silicon-containing BARC layer is etched to form silicon-containing BARC patterns. Insulating layers are formed on a surface of the silicon-containing BARC patterns and the first auxiliary patterns. A second auxiliary layer is formed on the hard mask layer and the insulating layers. An etch process is performed such that the second auxiliary layer remains on the hard mask layer between the silicon-containing BARC patterns thereby forming second auxiliary patterns. The insulating layers on the first auxiliary patterns and between the silicon-containing BARC patterns and the second auxiliary patterns are removed. The hard mask layer is etched thereby forming hard mask patterns. The etch target layer is etched using the hard mask patterns as an etch mask.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 27, 2008
    Publication date: March 5, 2009
    Applicant: Hynix Semiconductor Inc.
    Inventor: Woo Yung JUNG
  • Patent number: 7498257
    Abstract: A process for forming an ARC layer in the fabrication of a semiconductor device comprises forming a modified ARC layer that increases the resistance to crown defects and bridging and also provides better adhesion for the ARC layer with the underlying metal layer. The modified ARC layer can comprise two titanium nitride ARC layers, a titanium nitride/titanium/titanium nitride sandwich structure, a modified titanium nitride layer, or an extended thickness titanium nitride layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2006
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2009
    Assignee: Macronix International Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hsing-Hua Chiu, Tuung Luoh, Chi-Tung Huang, Kuang-Chao Chen
  • Patent number: 7495347
    Abstract: A method that includes providing a semiconductor substrate having a mask on a surface thereof. The mask includes a first region having no masking elements and a second region having a plurality of masking elements. Each of the plurality of masking elements has a dimension that is equal to a first length, the first length less than twice a diffusion length of a dopant. The method further includes bombarding the semiconductor substrate and masking element with ions of the dopant. The ions form a first impurity concentration in the first region and a second impurity concentration in the second region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2005
    Date of Patent: February 24, 2009
    Assignee: Xerox Corporation
    Inventors: Alan D. Raisanen, Shelby F. Nelson
  • Publication number: 20090047791
    Abstract: A method of etching semiconductor structures is disclosed. The method may include etching an SRAM portion of a semiconductor device, the method comprising: providing a silicon substrate layer, a nitride layer thereover, an optical dispersive layer over the nitride layer, and a silicon anti-reflective coating layer thereover; etching the silicon anti-reflective coating layer using an image layer; removing the image layer; etching the optical dispersive layer while removing the silicon anti-reflective coating layer; etching the optical dispersive layer and the nitride layer simultaneously; and etching the optical dispersive layer, the nitride layer, and the silicon substrate simultaneously.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 16, 2007
    Publication date: February 19, 2009
    Applicant: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: David M. Dobuzinsky, Johnathan E. Faltermeier, Munir D. Naeem, William C. Wille, Richard S. Wise
  • Patent number: 7476610
    Abstract: A method for forming semiconductor devices is provided. A gate stack is formed over a surface of a substrate. A plurality of cycles for forming polymer spacers on sides of the gate stack is provided, where each cycle comprises providing a deposition phase that deposits material on the sides of the polymer spacer and over the surface of the substrate, and providing a cleaning phase that removes polymer over the surface of the substrate and shapes a profile of the deposited material. Dopant is implanted into the substrate using the polymer spacers as a dopant mask. The polymer spacers are removed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2006
    Date of Patent: January 13, 2009
    Assignee: Lam Research Corporation
    Inventors: Ji Soo Kim, Conan Chiang, Daehan Choi, S. M. Reza Sadjadi, Michael Goss
  • Patent number: 7465615
    Abstract: Methods of forming adjacent polyconductor line ends and a mask therefor are disclosed. In one embodiment, the method includes forming a polyconductor layer over an isolation region; forming a mask over the polyconductor layer, the mask including shapes to create the polyconductor line ends and a correction element to ensure a designed proximity of the polyconductor line ends; and etching the polyconductor layer using the patterned photoresist mask to create the adjacent polyconductor line ends, wherein the correction element is removed during the etching.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2007
    Date of Patent: December 16, 2008
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Shahid A. Butt, Allen H. Gabor, Donald J. Samuels
  • Publication number: 20080203587
    Abstract: A semiconductor device comprises a semiconductor substrate including a first core region and a second core region between which a cell array region is interposed, a first conductive line and a second conductive line extending to the first core region across the cell array region, and a third conductive line and a fourth conductive line extending to the second core region across the cell array region, wherein a line width of the first through fourth conductive lines is smaller than a resolution limit in a lithography process.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 2, 2007
    Publication date: August 28, 2008
    Applicant: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hyeoung-Won Seo, Byung-Hyug Roh, Seong-Goo Kim, Sang-Min Jeon
  • Patent number: 7396781
    Abstract: Variations in the pitch of features formed using pitch multiplication are minimized by separately forming at least two sets of spacers. Mandrels are formed and the positions of their sidewalls are measured. A first set of spacers is formed on the sideswalls. The critical dimension of the spacers is selected based upon the sidewall positions, so that the spacers are centered at desired positions. The mandrels are removed and the spacers are used as mandrels for a subsequent spacer formation. A second material is then deposited on the first set of spacers, with the critical dimensions of the second set of spacers chosen so that these spacers are also centered at their desired positions. The first set of spacers is removed and the second set is used as a mask for etching a substrate. By selecting the critical dimensions of spacers based partly on the measured position of mandrels, the pitch of the spacers can be finely controlled.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2005
    Date of Patent: July 8, 2008
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventor: David H. Wells
  • Patent number: 7381654
    Abstract: A method is disclosed for forming right-angle contact/via holes for semiconductor devices. A device is provided on a substrate and covered with a first dielectric layer. A second dielectric layer having an etch rate different from that of the first layer is provided over the first layer. A first photoresist pattern is provided over the second layer to define an X or Y dimension of the contact/via hole. A second photoresist pattern is provided over the second layer to define an opposite dimension of the contact/via hole. First and second pattern dimensions are measured prior to etching to ensure appropriate dimensioning of the etched cavity. A second dry etch is then performed to form the contact/via hole. If the photoresist pattern is not within a desired tolerance, the etching process may be adjusted to ensure the cavity will have the desired dimensions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2005
    Date of Patent: June 3, 2008
    Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.
    Inventor: Cheng-Yao Lo
  • Patent number: 7361588
    Abstract: A method of reducing critical dimensions of a feature in a anti-reflective coating layer structure can utilize a polymerizing agent. The anti-reflective coating structure can be utilized to form various integrated circuit structures. The anti-reflective coating can be utilized to form gate stacks comprised of polysilicon and a dielectric layer, conductive lines, or other IC structure. The polymerizing agent can include carbon, hydrogen and fluorine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 2005
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2008
    Assignee: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
    Inventors: Phillip L. Jones, Mark S. Chang, Scott A. Bell
  • Patent number: 7351666
    Abstract: An integrated circuit and method for fabrication includes first and second structures, each including a set of sub-lithographic lines, and contact landing segments connected to at least one of the sub-lithographic lines at an end portion. The first and second structures are nested such that the sub-lithographic lines are disposed in a parallel manner within a width, and the contact landing segments of the first structure are disposed on an opposite side of a length of the sub-lithographic lines relative to the contact landing segments of the second structure. The contact landing segments for the first and second structures are included within the width dimension, wherein the width includes a dimension four times a minimum feature size achievable by lithography.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2006
    Date of Patent: April 1, 2008
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Toshiharu Furukawa, Mark Charles Hakey, Steven J. Holmes, David V. Horak, Charles William Koburger, III, Chung Hon Lam
  • Publication number: 20080032506
    Abstract: A method of forming a mask pattern and, more particularly, a method of forming a mask pattern wherein micro patterns having resolutions lower than those of exposure equipment by overcoming the resolutions of the exposure equipment, wherein, a silicon layer is formed over a substrate and is patterned. The patterned silicon layer is oxidized to form the entire surface of the silicon layer to a specific thickness by using an oxide layer. The oxide layer is removed to expose a top surface of the silicon layer. A mask pattern is formed with the remaining oxide layer by removing the silicon layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 22, 2007
    Publication date: February 7, 2008
    Applicant: HYNIX SEMICONDUCTOR INC.
    Inventor: Sung Hoon Lee
  • Patent number: 7316978
    Abstract: A method for forming a recess. The method includes providing a substrate with two protrusions having a first side wall and a second side wall opposite to the first side wall disposed above the substrate, conformally forming a mask layer on the substrate and the protrusions, tilt implanting the mask layer using a first implanting mask adjacent to the first side wall of the protrusions, removing implanted portions of the mask layer to form a patterned mask layer, and etching the substrate using the patterned mask layer, thereby forming a recess.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 2, 2005
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2008
    Assignee: Nanya Technology Corporation
    Inventors: Pei-Ing Lee, Chung-Yuan Lee, Chien-Li Cheng
  • Patent number: 7314824
    Abstract: The present invention provides a nitrogen-free ARC/capping layer in a low-k layer stack, which, in particular embodiments, is comprised of carbon-containing silicon dioxide, wherein the optical characteristics are tuned to conform to the 193 nm lithography. Moreover, the ARC/capping layer is directly formed on the low-k material, thereby also preserving the integrity thereof during an etch and chemical mechanical polishing process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2005
    Date of Patent: January 1, 2008
    Assignee: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
    Inventors: Kai Frohberg, Sven Muehle, Hartmut Ruelke
  • Patent number: 7179748
    Abstract: A method for forming a recess. The method includes providing a substrate with two protrusions having a first side wall and a second side wall opposite to the first side wall disposed above the substrate, conformally forming a mask layer on the substrate and the protrusions, tilt implanting the mask layer with a first angle using a first implanting mask adjacent to the first side wall of the protrusions, tilt implanting the mask layer with a second angle using a second implanting mask adjacent to the second side wall of the protrusions, removing implanted portions of the mask layer to form a patterned mask layer, and etching the substrate using the patterned mask layer, thereby forming a recess, wherein distances from the recess to the two protrusions, respectively, are different.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 2, 2005
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2007
    Assignee: Nanya Technology Corporation
    Inventors: Pei-Ing Lee, Chung-Yuan Lee, Chien-Li Cheng
  • Publication number: 20070032085
    Abstract: A method for forming a recess. The method includes providing a substrate with two protrusions having a first side wall and a second side wall opposite to the first side wall disposed above the substrate, conformally forming a mask layer on the substrate and the protrusions, tilt implanting the mask layer with a first angle using a first implanting mask adjacent to the first side wall of the protrusions, tilt implanting the mask layer with a second angle using a second implanting mask adjacent to the second side wall of the protrusions, removing implanted portions of the mask layer to form a patterned mask layer, and etching the substrate using the patterned mask layer, thereby forming a recess, wherein distances from the recess to the two protrusions, respectively, are different.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 2, 2005
    Publication date: February 8, 2007
    Applicant: NANYA TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Pei-Ing Lee, Chung-Yuan Lee, Chien-Li Cheng