Patents by Inventor William A. Wojtczak

William A. Wojtczak 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).

  • Publication number: 20080210900
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a wet etching composition including a sulfonic acid, a phosphonic acid, a phosphinic acid or a mixture of any two or more thereof, and a fluoride, and to a process of selectively etching oxides relative to nitrides, high-nitrogen content silicon oxynitride, metal, silicon or silicide. The process includes providing a substrate comprising oxide and one or more of nitride, high-nitrogen content silicon oxynitride, metal, silicon or silicide in which the oxide is to be etched; applying to the substrate for a time sufficient to remove a desired quantity of oxide from the substrate the etching composition; and removing the etching composition, in which the oxide is removed selectively.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 25, 2006
    Publication date: September 4, 2008
    Inventors: William Wojtczak, Sian Collins
  • Publication number: 20080116170
    Abstract: Composition and a process using the composition for selectively wet etching metal including depositing metal on a silicon surface; applying energy to cause respective portions of the metal and silicon to form silicide, leaving a quantity of unreacted metal; selectively wet etching the unreacted metal by applying to the unreacted metal a composition including HCl, HBr, an ammonium halide, an amine hydrohalide salt, a quaternary ammonium halide, a quaternary phosphonium halide or a mixture of any two or more thereof; a nitrogen oxide compound; a stabilizer for the nitrogen oxide, comprising a glycol, a glyme, an ether, a polyol or a mixture of any two or more thereof; and water. In one embodiment, the composition includes an ammonium halide, an amine hydrohalide salt, a quaternary ammonium halide, a quaternary phosphonium halide or a mixture of any two or more thereof; a nitrogen oxide compound; and water.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 19, 2007
    Publication date: May 22, 2008
    Inventors: Sian Collins, William Wojtczak
  • Patent number: 7192910
    Abstract: Composition for cleaning or etching a semiconductor substrate and method for using the same. The composition may include a fluorine-containing compound as an active agent such as a quaternary ammonium fluoride, a quaternary phosphonium fluoride, sulfonium fluoride, more generally an -onium fluoride or “multi” quaternary -onium fluoride that includes two or more quaternary- onium groups linked together by one or more carbon-containing groups. The composition may further include a pH adjusting acid such as a mineral acid, carboxylic acid, dicarboxylic acid, sulfonic acid, or combination thereof to give a pH of about 2 to 9. The composition can be anhydrous and may further include an organic solvent such as an alcohol, amide, ether, or combination thereof. The composition are useful for obtaining improved etch rate, etch selectivity, etch uniformity and cleaning criteria on a variety of substrates.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 27, 2004
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2007
    Assignee: Sachem, Inc.
    Inventors: William A. Wojtczak, Dean Dewulf, Sian Collins
  • Publication number: 20060226122
    Abstract: In one embodiment, the present invention relates to a wet etching composition including hydrogen peroxide; an organic onium hydroxide; and an acid. In another embodiment, the invention relates to a method of wet etching metal nitride selectively to surrounding structures comprising one or more of silicon, silicon oxides, glass, PSG, BPSG, BSG, silicon oxynitride, silicon nitride and silicon oxycarbide and combinations and mixtures thereof and/or photoresist materials, including steps of providing a wet etching composition including hydrogen peroxide, an organic onium hydroxide, and an organic acid; and exposing a metal nitride to be etched with the wet etching composition for a time and at a temperature effective to etch the metal nitride selectively to the surrounding structures.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 23, 2006
    Publication date: October 12, 2006
    Inventors: William Wojtczak, Dean DeWulf
  • Publication number: 20060160475
    Abstract: A chemical mechanical polishing slurry composition and method for using the slurry composition for polishing copper, barrier material and dielectric material that comprises first and second-step slurries. The first-step slurry has a high removal rate on copper and a low removal rate on barrier material. The second-step slurry has a high removal rate on barrier material and a low removal rate on copper and dielectric material. The first slurry comprises at least an organic polymeric abrasive.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 22, 2006
    Publication date: July 20, 2006
    Inventors: Ying Ma, William Wojtczak, Cary Regulski, Thomas Baum, David Bernhard, Deepak Verma
  • Publication number: 20060084272
    Abstract: A chemical mechanical polishing slurry and method for using the slurry for polishing copper, barrier material and dielectric material that includes a first and second slurry. The first slurry has a high removal rate on copper and a low removal rate on barrier material. The second slurry has a high removal rate on barrier material and a low removal rate on copper and dielectric material. The first and second slurries can include silica particles, an oxidizing agent, a corrosion inhibitor, and a cleaning agent.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 6, 2005
    Publication date: April 20, 2006
    Inventors: William Wojtczak, Thomas Baum, Long Nguyen, Cary Regulski
  • Patent number: 7029373
    Abstract: A chemical mechanical polishing slurry composition and method for using the slurry composition for polishing copper, barrier material and dielectric material that comprises first and second-step slurries. The first-step slurry has a high removal rate on copper and a low removal rate on barrier material. The second-step slurry has a high removal rate on barrier material and a low removal rate on copper and dielectric material. The first slurry comprises at least an organic polymeric abrasive.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 14, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 18, 2006
    Assignee: Advanced Technology Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Ying Ma, William Wojtczak, Cary Regulski, Thomas H. Baum, David D. Bernhard, Deepak Verma
  • Patent number: 6967169
    Abstract: A semiconductor wafer cleaning formulation, including 1-21% wt. fluoride source, 20-55% wt. organic amine(s), 0.5-40% wt. nitrogenous component, e.g., a nitrogen-containing carboxylic acid or an imine, 23-50% wt. water, and 0-21% wt. metal chelating agent(s). The formulations are useful to remove residue from wafers following a resist plasma ashing step, such as inorganic residue from semiconductor wafers containing delicate copper interconnecting structures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2004
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2005
    Assignee: Advanced Technology Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: William A. Wojtczak, Ma. Fatima Seijo, David Bernhard, Long Nguyen
  • Publication number: 20050215446
    Abstract: A semiconductor wafer cleaning formulation, including 1-35% wt. fluoride source, 20-60% wt. organic amine(s), 0.1-40% wt. nitrogenous component, e.g., a nitrogen-containing carboxylic acid or an imine, 20-50% wt. water, and 0-21% wt. metal chelating agent(s). The formulations are useful to remove residue from wafers following a resist plasma ashing step, such as inorganic residue from semiconductor wafers containing delicate copper interconnecting structures.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 24, 2005
    Publication date: September 29, 2005
    Inventors: William Wojtczak, Ma. Seijo, David Bernhard, Long Nguyen
  • Patent number: 6936542
    Abstract: A chemical mechanical polishing slurry and method for using the slurry for polishing copper, barrier material and dielectric material that comprises a first and second slurry. The first slurry has a high removal rate on copper and a low removal rate on barrier material. The second slurry has a high removal rate on barrier material and a low removal rate on copper and dielectric material. The first and second slurries at least comprise silica particles, an oxidizing agent, a corrosion inhibitor, and a cleaning agent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2001
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2005
    Assignee: Advanced Technology Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: William A. Wojtczak, Thomas H. Baum, Long Nguyen, Cary Regulski
  • Publication number: 20050143270
    Abstract: Composition for cleaning or etching a semiconductor substrate and method for using the same. The composition may include a fluorine-containing compound as an active agent such as a quaternary ammonium fluoride, a quaternary phosphonium fluoride, sulfonium fluoride, more generally an -onium fluoride or “multi” quaternary-onium fluoride that includes two or more quaternary-onium groups linked together by one or more carbon-containing groups. The composition may further include a pH adjusting acid such as a mineral acid, carboxylic acid, dicarboxylic acid, sulfonic acid, or combination thereof to give a pH of about 2 to 9. The composition can be anhydrous and may further include an organic solvent such as an alcohol, amide, ether, or combination thereof. The composition are useful for obtaining improved etch rate, etch selectivity, etch uniformity and cleaning criteria on a variety of substrates.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 27, 2004
    Publication date: June 30, 2005
    Inventors: William Wojtczak, Dean Dewulf, Sian Collins
  • Publication number: 20050124517
    Abstract: A semiconductor wafer cleaning formulation, including 1-21% wt. fluoride source, 20-55% wt. organic amine(s), 0.5-40% wt. nitrogenous component, e.g., a nitrogen-containing carboxylic acid or an imine, 23-50% wt. water, and 0-21% wt. metal chelating agent(s). The formulations are useful to remove residue from wafers following a resist plasma ashing step, such as inorganic residue from semiconductor wafers containing delicate copper interconnecting structures.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 24, 2005
    Publication date: June 9, 2005
    Inventors: William Wojtczak, Ma. Seijo, David Bernhard, Long Nguyen
  • Patent number: 6896826
    Abstract: A semiconductor wafer cleaning formulation, including 1-35% wt. fluoride source, 20-60% wt. organic amine(s), 0.1-40% wt. nitrogenous component, e.g., a nitrogen-containing carboxylic acid or an imine, 20-50% wt. water, and 0-21% wt. metal chelating agent(s). The formulations are useful to remove residue from wafers following a resist plasma ashing step, such as inorganic residue from semiconductor wafers containing delicate copper interconnecting structures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2005
    Assignee: Advanced Technology Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: William A. Wojtczak, Ma. Fatima Seijo, David Bernhard, Long Nguyen
  • Patent number: 6875733
    Abstract: The present invention comprises formulations for stripping wafer residues which originate from a halogen based plasma metal etching followed by oxygen plasma ashing. The formulations contain the following general components (percentages are by weight): an organic amine or mixture of amines 15-60 %, water 20-60 %, ammonium tetraborate or ammonium pentaborate 9-20 %, an optional polar organic solvent 0-15 %.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 1998
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2005
    Assignee: Advanced Technology Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: William A. Wojtczak, George Guan
  • Publication number: 20050003674
    Abstract: A semiconductor wafer cleaning formulation, including 1-21% wt. fluoride source, 20-55% wt. organic amine(s), 0.5-40% wt. nitrogenous component, e.g., a nitrogen-containing carboxylic acid or an imine, 23-50% wt. water, and 0-21% wt. metal chelating agent(s). The formulations are useful to remove residue from wafers following a resist plasma ashing step, such as inorganic residue from semiconductor wafers containing delicate copper interconnecting structures.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 4, 2004
    Publication date: January 6, 2005
    Inventors: William Wojtczak, Ma Seijo, David Bernhard, Long Nguyen
  • Patent number: 6773873
    Abstract: A semi-aqueous cleaning formulation useful for removing particles from semiconductor wafer substrates formed during a dry etching process for semiconductor devices, the cleaning formulation comprising a buffering system a polar organic solvent, and a fluoride source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2002
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2004
    Assignee: Advanced Technology Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Ma. Fatima Seijo, William A. Wojtczak, David Bernhard, Thomas H. Baum, David Minsek
  • Patent number: 6755989
    Abstract: A semiconductor wafer cleaning formulation, including 1-21% wt. fluoride source, 20-55% wt. organic amine(s), 0.5-40% wt. nitrogenous component, e.g., a nitrogen-containing carboxylic acid or an imine, 23-50% wt. water, and 0-21% wt. metal chelating agent(s). The formulations are useful to remove residue from wafers following a resist plasma ashing step, such as inorganic residue from semiconductor wafers containing delicate copper interconnecting structures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 29, 2004
    Assignee: Advanced Technology Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: William A. Wojtczak, Ma. Fatima Seijo, David Bernhard, Long Nguyen
  • Patent number: 6692546
    Abstract: A chemical mechanical polishing slurry composition and method for using the slurry composition for polishing copper, barrier material and dielectric material that comprises first and second-step slurries. The first-step slurry has a high removal rate on copper and a low removal rate on barrier material. The second-step slurry has a high removal rate on barrier material and a low removal rate on copper and dielectric material. The first slurry comprises at least an organic polymeric abrasive.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 17, 2001
    Date of Patent: February 17, 2004
    Assignee: Advanced Technology Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: Ying Ma, William Wojtczak, Cary Regulski, Thomas H. Baum, David D. Bernhard, Deepak Verma
  • Patent number: 6660700
    Abstract: A semiconductor wafer cleaning formulation, including 2-98% wt. organic amine, 0-50% wt. water, 0.1-60% wt. 1,3-dicarbonyl compound chelating agent, 0-25% wt. of additional different chelating agent(s), 0.5-40% wt. nitrogen-containing carboxylic acid or an imine, and 2-98% wt polar organic solvent. The formulations are useful to remove residue from wafers following a resist plasma ashing step, such as inorganic residue from semiconductor wafers containing delicate copper interconnecting structures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2001
    Date of Patent: December 9, 2003
    Assignee: Advanced Technologies Materials, Inc.
    Inventors: William A. Wojtczak, Ma. Fatima Seijo, David Bernhard, Long Nguyen
  • Publication number: 20030181342
    Abstract: A semi-aqueous cleaning formulation useful for removing particles from semiconductor wafer substrates formed during a dry etching process for semiconductor devices, the cleaning formulation comprising a buffering system a polar organic solvent, and a fluoride source.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 25, 2002
    Publication date: September 25, 2003
    Inventors: Ma. Fatima Seijo, William A. Wojtczak, David Bernhard, Thomas H. Baum, David Minsek