Abstract: A lithographic method of forming submicron polysilicon features on a semiconductor substrate, including the steps of coating said substrate with an anti-reflective coating (ARC) comprising two layers having matched indices of refraction (n) and extinction coefficient (k) selected to reduce reflection to less than 1% with 193 nm wavelength exposure. The ARC is subsequently patterned to serve as an etch hardmask. Preferably the ARC mask consists of a first layer of between 300 and 1500 angstroms of silicon rich silicon nitride having an extinction coefficient of from 0.77 to 1.07, and a second layer of between 170 and 320 angstroms of silicon oxynitride having an extinction coefficient of about 0.32.

Abstract: A method for fabricating a non-FLASH integrated circuit that minimizes Vmin shift. A protective overcoat (134) is deposited to protect and encapsulate the top metal interconnect layer (118). The protective overcoat (134) is patterned and etched to form bondpad windows either before or after depositing the final metal interconnect layer (136). A sinter that is normally performed after forming the bondpad windows is either omitted or the temperature of the sinter is kept at or below 350° C.

Abstract: A lithographic method of forming submicron polysilicon features on a semiconductor substrate, including the steps of coating said substrate with an anti-reflective coating (ARC) comprising two layers having matched indices of refraction (n) and extinction coefficient (k) selected to reduce reflection to less than 1% with 193 nm wavelength exposure. The ARC is subsequently patterned to serve as an etch hardmask. Preferably the ARC mask consists of a first layer of between 300 and 1500 angstroms of silicon rich silicon nitride having an extinction coefficient of from 0.77 to 1.07, and a second layer of between 170 and 320 angstroms of silicon oxynitride having an extinction coefficient of about 0.32.

Abstract: A lithographic method of forming submicron polysilicon features on a semiconductor substrate, including the steps of coating said substrate with an anti-reflective coating (ARC) comprising two layers having matched indices of refraction (n) and extinction coefficient (k) selected to reduce reflection to less than 1% with 193 nm wavelength exposure. The ARC is subsequently patterned to serve as an etch hardmask. Preferably the ARC mask consists of a first layer of between 300 and 1500 angstroms of silicon rich silicon nitride having an extinction coefficient of from 0.77 to 1.07, and a second layer of between 170 and 320 angstroms of silicon oxynitride having an extinction coefficient of about 0.32.

Abstract: A lithographic method of forming submicron polysilicon features on a semiconductor substrate, including the steps of coating said substrate with an anti-reflective coating (ARC) comprising two layers having matched indices of refraction (n) and extinction coefficient (k) selected to reduce reflection to less than 1% with 193 nm wavelength exposure. The ARC is subsequently patterned to serve as an etch hardmask. Preferably the ARC mask consists of a first layer of between 300 and 1500 angstroms of silicon rich silicon nitride having an extinction coefficient of from 0.77 to 1.07, and a second layer of between 170 and 320 angstroms of silicon oxynitride having an extinction coefficient of about 0.32.

Abstract: A method for fabricating a non-FLASH integrated circuit that minimizes Vmin shift. A protective overcoat (134) is deposited to protect and encapsulate the top metal interconnect layer (118). The protective overcoat (134) is patterned and etched to form bondpad windows either before or after depositing the final metal interconnect layer (136). A sinter that is normally performed after forming the bondpad windows is either omitted or the temperature of the sinter is kept at or below 350° C.

Abstract: A method for fabricating a non-FLASH integrated circuit that minimizes Vmin shift. A protective overcoat (134) is deposited to protect and encapsulate the top metal interconnect layer (118). The protective overcoat (134) comprises silicon oxynitride. The protective overcoat (134) is patterned and etched to form bondpad windows either before or after depositing the final metal interconnect layer (136).

Abstract: A method for fabricating a non-FLASH integrated circuit that minimizes Vmin shift. A protective overcoat (134) is deposited to protect and encapsulate the top metal interconnect layer (118). The protective overcoat comprises silicon nitride formed using deuterium based process gases (e.g. SiD4 and ND3) instead of hydrogen-based process gases. The protective overcoat (134) is patterned and etched to form bondpad windows either before or after depositing the final metal interconnect layer (136).