Robert Kevin Mills

US Patent:

6566269, May 20, 2003

Filed:

Jul 14, 2000

Appl. No.:

09/616845

Inventors:

Peter J. Biles - Orlando FL
Mario V. Pita - Winter Springs FL
Sylvia M. Luque - Orlando FL
Lauri M. Nelson - Orlando FL
Robert H. Mills - Orlando FL

Assignee:

Lucent Technologies Inc. - Murray Hill NJ

International Classification:

H01L 21302

US Classification:

438706, 438712, 438723, 438724

Abstract:

The present invention provides a method of plasma chamber etching of a semiconductor structure having a base layer, an etch stop layer, a dielectric material layer and a patterned photoresist layer. Among other things, the method may include etching selected portions of the dielectric material layer through the photoresist layer using a plasma etchant containing at least one of fluorine and sulfur in a compound such that portions of the photoresist layer may be contaminated with ions of the at least one of the fluorine and sulfur. The method may further include the steps of exhausting the etchant from the plasma chamber, introducing an oxygen containing gas into the plasma chamber, energizing the plasma reactor to create at least oxygen ions for bombarding the photoresist surface to remove at least a portion of the photoresist containing a majority of the contaminating one of the fluorine and sulfur ions whereby the fluorine and sulfur ions combine with other ions in the oxygen containing gas during at least exhaustion of the gas from the chamber, and removing the semiconductor structure containing a remaining portion of the photoresist from the plasma chamber.