METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR THE ETCHING OF PHOTOMASK SUBSTRATES USING PULSED PLASMA
Cross References to Related Applications
This application claims priority from and is related to commonly owned U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/342,695, filed October 22, 2001, entitled: ETCHING OF PHOTOMASK SUBSTRATES
USING PULSED PLASMA, this Provisional Patent Application is
incorporated by reference herein.
Technical Field
The present invention relates to semiconductor processing. More
particularly, the invention relates to an apparatus and method for the
pulsed plasma etching of photomasks.
Background
Dry etching of photomasks is becoming the standard for the current
generation of semiconductor devices. This is because in this current
generation, device geometries have moved inside the 0.12μm level, where
wet etching can not achieve the desired precision. Dry etching is also the
standard for the etching of binary masks, where the pattern is defined in materials such as chromium (Cr) or chromium oxides (CrOx), and in phase-shift masks in which the pattern is defined in a partially absorbing
phase shifting layer, such as Molybdenum Silicide (MoSi).
Dry etching is particularly useful for anisotropic etching of a
substrate. Anisotropic etching is etching that occurs primarily in one
direction, whereas isotropic etching is etching that occurs in all directions.
Anisotropic etching is desirable because it can be used to produce features
having precisely located sidewalls that extend substantially perpendicularly from the edges of a masking layer. This precision is
important in devices that have a feature size and spacing comparable to
the depth of the etch.
To accomplish an anisotropic plasma etch, a substrate such as a
photomask may be placed in a plasma reactor such that the plasma sheath
of the resulting plasma forms an electric field perpendicular to the
substrate surface. This electric field accelerates ions perpendicularly
toward the substrate surface for etching.
The dry etching process is advantageous as it allows for the reproduction of dimensions as written into the photoresist masking layer.
The quality of the etch is typically determined by comparing critical dimensions (CDs) in the photoresist masking layer and in the Cr or MoSi layer (the etched layer) after etching. Ideally, the CD bias, the difference
between the CD in the photoresist masking layer and the CD in the etched
layer, should be close to zero, and for example, less than 20 nm. The
uniformity of the CD bias should also be small, for example, with a 3σ
variation of less than lOnm.
One form of dry etching is inductively coupled plasma etching.
Inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etching is typically employed to etch Cr
or MoSi for photomask applications, and can be applied to other materials, which may be used for the fabrication of binary or phase shifting
photomasks. Systems for inductively coupled plasma etching provide for
stable operation at low pressures with reasonable etch rates and low
inherent ion bombardment, unlike reactive ion etching (RIE) at low
pressures.
These systems include an induction coil, surrounding, or in close
proximity to, the reaction chamber, to inductively couple power to a gas in
the chamber to form a plasma. Power is supplied by an RF generator and
a matching network is employed to match the impedance of the power supply with that of the plasma. The RF energy coupled inductively primarily determines the plasma ion density. A separate RF power supply
is used to bias the substrate, to independently control the energy of the
ions bombarding the substrate. The low pressure of operation inside the
chamber, typically less than 10 mTorr, ensures etch rate uniformity, and
the RF bias ensures anisotropic etching of materials, such as Cr and MoSi.
However, contemporary etch systems are limited, in that they only
provide a CD bias of 60-70nm and a 3σ variation of about 12nm. One
reason for this large CD bias is due to the amount of resist lost during the
etch. If the resist removal is anisotropic (etching primarily occurring in one direction), and if the resist edge profile is sloped, a loss in resist thickness results in a reduction in feature size. If the resist loss is
isotropic (in all directions) this will result in a reduction of feature size
even if the resist profile is not sloped. In either case, the change in feature
size is due to the reduction in resist dimensions, which increases with the
amount of resist lost. For current etch processes, the etch selectivity to
photoresist is poor and is typically approximately 1:1. Accordingly, when etching a 1000 Angstrom thick Cr film, and including 50% over etch, as
much as 1500 Angstroms of the photoresist layer can be lost during the etch process. With a resist slope of 75 degrees (i.e. 15 degrees from
vertical) this can translate to a CD loss of as much as 80nm.
Summary
It is therefore one of the objectives of this invention to improve on
the contemporary art by providing a method and apparatus that allows
binary or phase shifting materials, such as Cr or MoSi, to be etched with a
high selectivity with respect to the photoresist layer. The methods
disclosed provide for the etching of Cr and MoSi layers in an inductively coupled plasma reactor system where etching thereof is approximately
twenty times faster than the etching of the photoresist layer (an etch
selectivity of 20:1). As a result of this method, and the apparatus useful in
performing these methods, etching of features can be performed with a
minimum loss of the photoresist layer, whereby the CD bias and CD
uniformity values are improved significantly with respect to those of the
contemporary art.
It is an additional object of this invention to pulse the inductively
coupled plasma off and on in cycles to thereby increase etch selectivity while at the same time maintaining an anisotropic etch.
It is an additional object of this invention to use a pulsed plasma to
take advantage of the difference in the lifetime of species created within
the plasma and facilitate chemical etching primarily by neutral radicals.
It is a further object of this invention to use a pulsed plasma to
regulate the density of neutral radicals and ions.
It is still yet another object of this invention to facilitate anisotropic
etching by applying a bias voltage to the substrate being etched.
The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the more pertinent and important features of the present invention in order that the detailed
description of the invention that follows may be better understood so that
the present contribution to the art can be more fully appreciated.
Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter which
form the subject of the claims of the invention. It should be appreciated by
those skilled in the art that the conception and the specific embodiment
disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing
other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present
invention. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the
invention as set forth in the appended claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will become more readily apparent from the following description, by way of example only, in the accompanying drawings
wherein corresponding or like numerals and characters indicate
corresponding or like components. In the drawings:
Fig. 1 is an illustration of an exemplary processing chamber used
with embodiments of the present invention;
Figs. 2 and 2a are illustrations of a photomask;
Fig. 3 is a diagram of plasma optical emissions when the induction
coil is pulsed for 800 μs;
Fig. 4 is a diagram of etching rate versus duty cycle; Fig. 5 is a diagram of etching rate versus pressure; and
Fig. 6 is a box plot of actual critical dimensions (CD) and their
deviations from the average CDs in accordance with an embodiment of the
present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the etching of a thin film upon a
photomask. The etching is carried out in a reactor via an inductively
coupled pulsed plasma. Pulsing of the plasma is achieved by regulating
the time period (or duty cycle) in which the plasma is generated. It has been found that by decreasing the duty cycle, high etch selectively can be
achieved and feature sizes can be faithfully maintained. The apparatus
and method for carrying out the present invention are described in greater
detail hereinafter.
Reactor Configuration
Fig. 1 illustrates a cross-sectional view of an inductively coupled
plasma (ICP) reactor system 20 for use with the present invention. The
system includes a plasma generation chamber 22, where semiconductor substrates 24 or workpieces, such as photomasks, are etched. Gas is supplied to the chamber 22 through supply lines 26a and 26b connected to a conventional gas source (not shown).
The system 20 is configured such that the energy of ions
bombarding the substrate 24 can be controlled substantially
independently of the ion density. Induction coils 28, connected to a first
RF power source 30, encircle (and are adjacent to) the plasma generation
chamber 22. A separate electrode 32 is connected to a second RF power
source 34 and acts as a support for the substrate 24. The power applied to the electrode 32 is used to control ion bombardment energies, by providing
a bias voltage, while the power applied to induction coils 28 is used to
control the plasma ion density. Both power supplies are equipped with an
automatic matching network (AMN), 30a and 34a, in a manner known in
the art. The ICP reactor of Fig. 1 is only representative and the use of
other reactor configurations is within the scope of the present invention.
For example, the present invention can be carried out in a flat reactor
geometry. Other induction coil geometries are also within the scope of the
present invention, such as the use of helical coil arrangements.
The electrode 32 is made of a conductive material. It is typically supported by a support 36 of an insulating or non-conductive material, such as a ceramic. The electrode is located in a processing chamber 39,
which is connected to the plasma generation chamber 22.
The wall 40 of the processing chamber 39 is grounded. This wall 40
provides a common ground 42 for the system 20 and includes a conductive
material. The wall 40 attaches to walls 44 of the plasma generation
chamber 22. These walls 44 are made of nonconductive material, such as
quartz or alumina. Lid 46 connects to the walls 44 and covers the plasma
generation chamber 22. In one exemplary embodiment, a split Faraday shield 48 extends around the walls 44. The shield 48 reduces capacitive
coupling between the coil and the plasma. Nonetheless, it is within the
scope of the present invention to use a reactor without a Faraday shield.
The entire system may be enclosed by a shield (not shown) of a radiation shielding material such as aluminum or the like.
A gas exhaust system 50 is below the support 32. This exhaust
system 50 typically includes an outlet conduit 52, a shut-off valve 54 and a control valve 56 for permitting pressure control.
The gas mixture, from which the plasma is formed, consists of a Cl-
containing gas, such as HCl, Cl2 or the like, and an O-containing gas, such
as O2, CO2 or the like, and may additionally contain an inert gas such as
He, N2 or the like. In the case of a photomask with a chromium layer,
plasma etching is preferentially carried out using a mixture of O2 and CI2
gas. The preferred gas mixture is approximately 90% CI2 + 10% O2. The
gas mixture is pressurized at approximately 10-20 millitorrs (mTorr) and enters the plasma chamber 22 at a flow rate of approximately 100-200 standard cubic centimeters per minute.
The induction coils 28 couple energy into the gas in the plasma
generation chamber 22 during high power cycles to produce a plasma.
During high power cycles, the induction coils 28 produce a circumferential
electric field in the plasma generation chamber 22 that is substantially
parallel to the surface of the substrate (workpiece) 24. Typically, the power supplied during the high power cycles has a magnitude of less than
about 5 kilowatts. The electric field accelerates electrons in the gas and a
plasma results. Within the plasma a wide variety of reactive species are
created, including electrons, neutral radicals, positive ions and negative ions. Once created, these reactive species are free to etch the photomask (both chemically and through ion bombardment) in a manner more fully
described hereinafter.
Photomask Construction
In a first embodiment, the workpiece to be etched within the reactor
takes the form of a photomask or reticle 58. Fig. 2 illustrates one typical photomask construction. The photomask 58 includes a first substrate 60, which is formed from a suitable material that is transparent to the electromagnetic radiation typically employed in semiconductor
lithographic operations. Suitable materials include silica glass, fused
quartz, and borosilicate glass. In the preferred embodiment, substrate 60
is formed from quartz.
A thin layer 62 is then deposited over substrate 60. In the case of a
binary photomask, layer 62 is formed from a light blocking material. For
example, layer 62 can be formed from a metal such as chromium (Cr).
However, if the photomask is a phase shifting mask, layer 62 will be partially light transmissive and formed from a light attenuating material such as MolySilicide (MoSi). The use of additional materials for layer 62
is also within the scope of the present invention.
Finally, a photoresist layer 64 is placed over layer 62. In a manner
known in the art, the resist layer 64 is then exposed to write equipment to
write a circuit design onto the mask. The write equipment can take the
form of an e-beam or other high precision photolithographic means. Thereafter, developing processes are employed to remove the exposed
resist. The resulting product is illustrated in Fig. 2a. As illustrated, the
upper surface of the resulting mask includes both unexposed resist 64 and
the underlying layer 62a both of which are subsequently etched via a
plasma.
Plasma Pulsing
As explained, the gas supplied to chamber 22 is ignited into a
plasma when power is supplied to induction coils 28. In an important
aspect of the present invention, the induction coils are pulsed "on" and "off for various time periods. The resulting pulsing of the plasma dramatically increases etch selectively and improves the quality of the resulting etch.
The increase in etch selectively is a function of the Cr etch rate
being independent of the bias voltage on the electrode 32. This indicates that the etch rate of the Cr is not based upon ion bombardment. Rather,
the Cr etch rate is chemically driven, specifically, by the reaction of the Cr
with the CI and O radicals generated by the disassociation of the CI2 and
O2 in the plasma. This chemical reaction forms Crθ2Cl2 as a volatile etch
product as the Cr is etched. Similar etch characteristics are expected using other Cl-containing precursors (e.g. HCl, CC1 , etc.) and O- containing precursors (e.g. CO, CO2 etc.). This chemical etching continues
even after power to the induction coils 28 has been turned "off' (to zero)
due to the slow decay of the uncharged radicals (for example, CI and O) in
the gas mixture. The decay of these uncharged radicals is typically on the
order of milliseconds to seconds, depending on the geometry of the chamber.
The chemical etching of the Cr is in contrast to the etching of the
photoresist layer. Here, the etch rate is highly dependent on the bias voltage which indicates that the photoresist is primarily etched by ion bombardment. In this regard, etching of the resist is dependent upon the
presence of ions generated in the plasma. Thus, it has been found that the
highest selectivity for etching occurs when the bias voltage is low or even
zero, i.e., in the absence of ion bombardment. However, even when the
bias voltage is zero, a limited amount of ion bombardment continues due
to the potential created by the plasma (20-30 volts).
The above pulsing process can also be carried out on a workpiece 24
formed of MoSi with a photoresist layer over it. When working with the
MoSi workpiece, fluorine (F) is used in the gas mixture for the plasma, for example, CF4 or SFβ or the like. Here, the neutral F radicals chemically interact with the MoSi layer to create a volatile etch product.
In addition, any etchable layer that is incorporated on a photomask,
such as, but not limited to, Nb-, Ti-, Ta-, and Si-containing materials can
be etched with a greater selectivity over the prior through the use of the
present invention . In such cases the etching is by reaction with radicals
and the etch rate of the etchable layer is primarily chemically driven. By regulating the time periods in which the plasma is pulsed on and off (i.e.
the duty cycle) one can take advantage of the major difference in the lifetime of the species of radicals formed in the plasma. Specifically, after RF power is removed from the induction coils 28, plasma generation
ceases and the density of charged particles falls very quickly to close to
zero (few tens of microseconds). However, the density of un-charged
radicals (e.g., CI, 0, F) decays much more slowly, and may be of the order
of milliseconds to seconds, depending on the reactor geometry. Since these neutral species are primarily responsible for chemically etching Cr, MoSi
or the etchable layer, the etching continues even after the plasma is extinguished. During this period (the time period after the plasma is
pulsed off, but before the decay of the un-charged radicals), the lack of charged particles means that there is no ion bombardment and hence the
resist etch rate is very low. Therefore, during this time period, the
selectivity of etching Cr:photoresist, MoSi.photoresist or the etchable
layer:photoresist is dramatically increased.
After the plasma is pulsed off, the un-charged radical concentration
eventually decays to zero and the etch rate of Cr, MoSi or the etchable
layer falls to zero. Thus, the plasma needs to be pulsed back on to create
additional radicals. The generation of a steady-state plasma takes place quickly after the RF power is applied to induction coils 28, in a time frame
of the order of a hundred to a few hundred microseconds. Fig. 3 shows the
plasma optical emission during this phase and shows the formation of a
steady state plasma in approximately 500μS. Even after lOOμS the
emission from the plasma has reached >75% of the steady state value.
During this time the concentration of radicals (CI, O, F) also reaches a
steady state. The duration of the off cycle is primarily a function of the
decay rate of the uncharged radicals, and ideally would be long. However, it has been found that reigniting the plasma becomes more difficult as the
off cycle is increased. Thus, the duration of the off cycle is also a function of the ability of the induction coil to reignite the plasma.
By pulsing the plasma on and off with an "on" time of the order of
100 microseconds (determined primarily by the formation of steady-state
conditions) and an "off time of the order of a few milliseconds (determined
by the radical decay time) it is possible to greatly enhance the
Cr:photoresist etch selectivity. The Cr is etched during the whole cycle,
i.e., during the "on" and "off period of the plasma, while the resist is etched only during the "on" period. Using the described pulsing method, it
has been found that etching with an inductively coupled plasma results in the Cr (or MoSi) being etched up to 20 times faster than the photoresist
layer, or at an etch selectivity of 20:1. This allows workpieces to be etched
with a minimal loss of photoresist. As a result, CD bias and CD
uniformity are significantly improved when compared to conventional
etching techniques.
Substrate Bias Voltage
Bias voltage to electrode 32 is typically low or zero. The bias
voltage can be applied as either a continuous bias or a pulsed bias. If pulsed, the pulse can be in phase (when the induction coils are "on"), or out of phase (when the induction coils are "off). The pulsed bias can also
be adjusted independently of the pulse or power applied to the induction
coils. For example, the bias voltage can be applied at frequencies of
approximately 50 kHz to approximately 1 MHz, or at higher frequencies,
such as 13.56MHz. In various embodiments, the bias voltage of the
substrate may be alternated between high and low cycles, "on" and "off
cycles, or may be completely "on" at a predefined voltage or "off.
It has been found that applying a bias voltage increases ion bombardment and decreases selectivity, with the highest selectivity
occurring when no bias voltage is applied. Nonetheless, the bias voltage
promotes anisotropic etching. Thus, some bias voltage is desirable to
achieve a proper etch profile.
The present invention is also defined by the following Examples:
Example 1
In this Example, a Cr workpiece, for example, a binary mask
(photomask) with a layer of photoresist over it was subjected to a plasma
pulsed on and off with an "on" time of 100 μs and an "off time that was
varied from zero to 2 milliseconds so as to define Duty Cycles from greater than zero to less than 100%. No bias voltage was applied. Process
conditions were as follows:
He 22sccm
Pressure 3.7 mTorr ICP Power 1800 Watts
Results are shown in Fig. 4. Here, the highest selectivity occurred
when the plasma was pulsed "on" at 100 μs and the pulse was "off for 2
milliseconds, such that the duty cycle was approximately 5%. It was found that the Cr was etched during the entire cycle while the photoresist layer was etched only during the "on" or pulsed portion of the cycle.
Example 2
The process of Example 6 was repeated, except that the plasma was operated at higher pressures, up to 20mTorr. Results of etching rates and
selectivity of Cr:photoresist versus the pressure are shown in Fig. 5.
Specifically, this increase in pressure resulted in the etch rate of the
photoresist being reduced, further than in Example 6, and the
Cr:photoresist selectivity was greater than 20:1. A similar response
happens while etching MoSi with F radicals. Likewise, a similar response occurs while etching other materials (the etchable layer) where the etching
of one material is primarily chemically driven (the etchable layer) and the
other material (photoresist) is primarily etched by ion bombardment.
Example 3
A Cr photomask was etched to its etch end point followed by a 100%
over etch in accordance with the process of Example 2 above. The critical
dimensions (CDs) in the photoresist layer (before etching) were compared
with the critical dimensions (CDs) in the Cr after etching. The results are
shown in the Box Plot of Fig. 6. In the box plot of Fig. 6, the average CD Bias is approximately 32 nanometers (nm), while the CD variation is approximately 9 nm (3 sigma).
In Examples 1-3, it was found the highest selectivity was obtained
when an RF bias of zero is applied to the substrate (workpiece). However,
some RF bias can be applied to improve the etch sidewall profile. In applying this bias, a balance is achieved between sidewall improvement and selectivity reduction. This bias can be applied continuously or can be pulsed either in or out of phase with the ICP pulse.
While the above Examples have been performed on a Cr workpiece for a binary mask (photomask), these examples can also be performed with
a MoSi workpiece for a phase-shift photomask with F radicals in the
etchant plasma.
While preferred embodiments of processes, methods, systems,
apparatus, and components, have been described above, the description
above is exemplary only. Those skilled in the art will recognize, or be able
to ascertain using no more than routine experimentation, many
equivalents to the specific embodiments of the invention described herein.
Such equivalents are intended to be encompassed by the following claims.