Patents by Inventor Hiroto Otake

Hiroto Otake has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11901192
    Abstract: To provide an etching processing method and an etching processing apparatus which allow an aluminum oxide film to be etched with high accuracy and with a high selectivity to each of a silicon oxide film and a silicon nitride film, the etching processing method includes the step of placing, in a processing chamber, a wafer having the aluminum oxide film disposed on an upper surface thereof, maintaining the wafer at a temperature of ?20° C. or less, and supplying vapor of hydrogen fluoride from a plurality of through holes in a plate-like member disposed above the upper surface of the wafer with a predetermined gap being provided therebetween only for a predetermined period to etch the aluminum oxide film.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2024
    Assignee: HITACHI HIGH-TECH CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hiroto Otake, Takashi Hattori
  • Publication number: 20230386793
    Abstract: Provided are an etching method and an etching apparatus that allow etching processing of a silicon nitride film to be performed at a high etching rate, while maintaining high processing dimension controllability at an atomic layer level, high uniformity in a pattern depth direction, and high selectivity to silicon dioxide. An etching method includes a first step of supplying an etchant containing hydrogen to a sample having a surface at which a silicon nitride is exposed to form a first modified layer in which the hydrogen is bonded to the silicon nitride, a second step of supplying an etchant containing fluorine to the sample to form, over the first modified layer, a second modified layer in which the hydrogen and the fluorine are bonded to the silicon nitride, and a third step of irradiating the first modified layer and the second modified layer with an infrared ray.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 19, 2021
    Publication date: November 30, 2023
    Inventors: Yosuke KUROSAKI, Kenji MAEDA, Hiroto OTAKE
  • Publication number: 20220310403
    Abstract: To provide an etching processing method and an etching processing apparatus which allow an aluminum oxide film to be etched with high accuracy and with a high selectivity to each of a silicon oxide film and a silicon nitride film, the etching processing method includes the step of placing, in a processing chamber, a wafer having the aluminum oxide film disposed on an upper surface thereof, maintaining the wafer at a temperature of ?20° C. or less, and supplying vapor of hydrogen fluoride from a plurality of through holes in a plate-like member disposed above the upper surface of the wafer with a predetermined gap being provided therebetween only for a predetermined period to etch the aluminum oxide film.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 30, 2020
    Publication date: September 29, 2022
    Inventors: Hiroto Otake, Takashi Hattori
  • Publication number: 20220115239
    Abstract: Provided is an etching method for etching a silicon oxide film with a high accuracy at a high selection ratio with respect to a silicon nitride film, the etching method of etching a film structure, in which an end portion of a film layer in which the silicon oxide film and the silicon nitride film formed in advance on a wafer disposed in a processing chamber are alternately stacked in a vertical direction forms a side wall of a groove or a hole, by supplying processing gas into the processing chamber includes a step of supplying hydrogen fluoride and alcohol vapor into the processing chamber, maintaining the wafer at a temperature of ?20° C. or lower, preferably ?20° C. to ?60° C., and etching the silicon oxide film from the end portion in a lateral direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 10, 2020
    Publication date: April 14, 2022
    Inventors: Takashi Hattori, Yu Zhao, Hiroyuki Kobayashi, Hiroto Otake
  • Patent number: 11295960
    Abstract: A method of etching a silicon oxide film with high precision at high selectivity as compared with a silicon nitride film while establishing both of a higher etching rate of the silicon oxide film and a lower etching rate of the silicon nitride film is provided. An etching method according to the present invention is directed to a dry etching method for etching a film structure without using plasma in which an end of a film layer having a silicon oxide film vertically sandwiched between silicon nitride films and laminated and formed in advance on a wafer disposed in a processing chamber forms a side wall of a groove or a hole while a processing gas is supplied into the processing chamber, the method including the steps of: supplying a hydrogen fluoride gas; cooling the wafer to a low temperature of ?30° C. or lower, preferably, to ?30 to ?60° C.; and etching the silicon oxide film laterally from the end.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2022
    Assignee: HITACHI HIGH-TECH CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takashi Hattori, Masaki Yamada, Michael Walker, Catherine King, Hiroto Otake
  • Patent number: 11217454
    Abstract: The present invention provides a plasma processing method or a plasma processing method, which allows the evenness of etching amounts to increase and the yield of processing to improve. A method for etching a tungsten film includes: a first step of depositing a fluorocarbon layer and forming an intermediate layer that contains tungsten and fluorine and is self-limiting between the fluorocarbon layer and the tungsten film by supplying plasma of an organic gas containing fluorine to a base material having the tungsten film over at least a part of the surface; and a second step of removing the fluorocarbon layer and the intermediate layer by using plasma of an oxygen gas.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 4, 2022
    Assignee: HITACHI HIGH-TECH CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kazunori Shinoda, Hiroto Otake, Hiroyuki Kobayashi, Kohei Kawamura, Masaru Izawa
  • Publication number: 20210242030
    Abstract: The present invention provides a plasma processing method or a plasma processing method, which allows the evenness of etching amounts to increase and the yield of processing to improve. A method for etching a tungsten film includes: a first step of depositing a fluorocarbon layer and forming an intermediate layer that contains tungsten and fluorine and is self-limiting between the fluorocarbon layer and the tungsten film by supplying plasma of an organic gas containing fluorine to a base material having the tungsten film over at least a part of the surface; and a second step of removing the fluorocarbon layer and the intermediate layer by using plasma of an oxygen gas.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 22, 2019
    Publication date: August 5, 2021
    Inventors: Kazunori SHINODA, Hiroto OTAKE, Hiroyuki KOBAYASHI, Kohei KAWAMURA, Masaru IZAWA
  • Publication number: 20210050191
    Abstract: Embodiments are described herein for systems and methods for plasma processing tool matching after preventative maintenance (PM). Before the PM, the plasma processing tool is operated to run a process on a test wafer, and measurements are taken for pre-PM operational data associated with the process during the operating. After the PM, the plasma processing tool is again operated to run the process on a test wafer, and measurements are taken for post-PM operational data associated with the process during the operating. A prediction model is then applied to the pre-PM operational data and the post-PM operational data to generate an estimated difference in a product parameter, and the prediction model is configured to provide an estimate for the product parameter based upon operational data. One or more control settings for the plasma processing tool are then adjusted to compensate for the estimated difference in the product parameter.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 12, 2019
    Publication date: February 18, 2021
    Inventors: Kenichi Usami, Norihisa Kiyofuji, Hiroto Otake, Shinji Ide, Jun Shinagawa