Abstract: Tungsten plugs are prevented from corrosion, during fabrication of semiconductor devices, where the tungsten plug is formed in a substrate and coupled with a wire formed on the substrate. The substrate is dipped into a non-ionic benign solvent which substantially discharges the charges accumulated on a surface of the wire, followed by a rinsing process to clean the surface of the wire and then spin-drying.

Abstract: Tungsten plugs are prevented from corrosion, during fabrication of semiconductor devices, where the tungsten plug is formed in a substrate and coupled with a wire formed on the substrate. The substrate is dipped into a non-ionic benign solvent which substantially discharges the charges accumulated on a surface of the wire, followed by a rinsing process to clean the surface of the wire and then spin-drying.

Abstract: The present invention provides a lithography and etching process using a hardened photoresist layer. A material layer is formed over a substrate. An anti-reflective layer is formed over the material layer. A lithography process is performed to form a patterned photoresist layer. A reactive ion etching step is performed to remove the anti-reflective layer exposed by the patterned photoresist layer. At the same time, the patterned photoresist layer is hardened. The material layer is removed using the hardened patterned photoresist layer as a mask. The resolution is improved for lithography and the process window is enlarged for etching process.