Abstract: A method for forming an anti-reflective coating (ARC) layer within a fabrication and a fabrication having the anti-reflective coating (ARC) layer formed therein. To practice the method, there is first provided a substrate. There is then formed over the substrate a reflective layer. There is then formed upon the reflective layer an organic polymer anti-reflective coating (ARC) layer, where the organic polymer anti-reflective coating (ARC) layer is formed from an organic polymer anti-reflective coating (ARC) material which is not susceptible to a hydrolysis reaction. There may then be formed upon the organic polymer anti-reflective coating (ARC) layer a photoresist layer which is photoexposed and developed to form a patterned photoresist layer which may be employed as an etch mask for forming a patterned reflective layer from the reflective layer. The patterned reflective layer so formed is formed with uniform and reproducible linewidth dimension.

Abstract: A method for forming insulator filled, shallow trench isolation regions, with rounded corners, has been developed. The process features the use of a polymer coated opening, in an insulator layer, used as a mask to define the shallow trench region in silicon. After completion of the shallow trench formation the polymer spacers are removed, exposing a region of unetched semiconductor, that had been protected by the polymer spacers, during the shallow trench dry etching procedure. The sharp corner, at the intersection between the shallow trench and the unetched region of semiconductor, is then converted to a rounded corner, via thermal oxidation of exposed silicon surfaces. The polymer spacers also eliminate the top corner wraparound.