CN-122018238-A - Method for improving tower-shaped defect of photoresist

CN122018238ACN 122018238 ACN122018238 ACN 122018238ACN-122018238-A

Abstract

The application provides a method for improving a photoresist tower-shaped defect, which comprises the steps of firstly providing a substrate, forming photoresist on the substrate, secondly forming patterns of a film target pattern to be etched in the photoresist, thirdly removing aggregates and impurity residues through a wet cleaning process, and changing cleaning conditions when the wet cleaning process is implemented so as to improve the photoresist tower-shaped defect. Aiming at the principle of generating the photoresist tower-shaped defects in the production line, the method aims at improving the principle, and changes the wet cleaning condition to more forcefully flush small aggregates/fine impurities on the surface of the wafer after photoresist dry etching, so as to improve the photoresist tower-shaped defects.

Inventors

CHEN LIJUN
FU JIAWEI
CHEN CHENG
QIN LIPENG
JING QUAN

Assignees

上海华力集成电路制造有限公司

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20260309

Claims (10)

1. A method of improving a photoresist tower defect, the method comprising: step one, providing a substrate, and forming photoresist on the substrate; Step two, forming patterns of a film target pattern to be etched in the photoresist; and thirdly, removing aggregates and impurity residues through a wet cleaning process, and changing cleaning conditions when the wet cleaning process is implemented so as to improve the tower-shaped defects of the photoresist.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the wet cleaning process duration is increased to improve photoresist tower defects.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the wet cleaning is augmented with a hydrofluoric acid treatment to improve photoresist tower defects.
4. A method according to claim 3, wherein the hydrofluoric acid treatment is for a period of 10s.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the wet cleaning is performed with hydrofluoric acid alone to improve photoresist tower defects.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the hydrofluoric acid treatment is for a period of 90s.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the second step is performed by a photoresist dry etching process.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the photoresist is formed on the substrate by a spin-on process.
9. The method according to claim 1, wherein after the third step is performed, the film to be etched is etched using the patterned photoresist as a mask, and a target pattern is formed in the film to be etched.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein after the third step is performed, the hard mask layer is etched by using the patterned photoresist as a mask, and then the film layer to be etched is etched by using the patterned hard mask layer as a mask, so as to form the target pattern in the film layer to be etched.

Description

Method for improving tower-shaped defect of photoresist Technical Field The application relates to the technical field of semiconductors, in particular to a method for improving tower-shaped defects of photoresist. Background Defects are important precautions for the semiconductor industry, where photoresist Tower defects (Tower defects) are a major issue of absolute precautions and improvement, as they directly impact final yields. Photoresist tower defects generally refer to prismatic dislocation loop array defects stacked in the growth direction formed by the collapse of a vacancy cluster generated by a wafer due to manufacturing/material reasons, and the prior art has limited improvement effect on the photoresist tower defects. Disclosure of Invention In view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, an object of the present application is to provide a method for improving a photoresist tower-like defect, which is used for solving the problem that the improvement effect of the prior art on the photoresist tower-like defect is limited. To achieve the above and other related objects, the present application provides a method for improving a tower-like defect of a photoresist, comprising: step one, providing a substrate, and forming photoresist on the substrate; Step two, forming patterns of a film target pattern to be etched in the photoresist; And thirdly, removing aggregates and impurity residues through a wet cleaning process, and changing cleaning conditions when the wet cleaning process is implemented so as to improve the tower-shaped defects of the photoresist. Preferably, the wet cleaning treatment time is increased to improve the tower-like defects of the photoresist. Preferably, a step of hydrofluoric acid treatment is added in wet cleaning to improve the tower-like defects of the photoresist. Preferably, the hydrofluoric acid treatment is for a period of 10s. Preferably, the hydrofluoric acid treatment is separately applied in the wet cleaning to improve the photoresist tower-like defects. Preferably, the hydrofluoric acid treatment is for 90 seconds. Preferably, the second step is performed by a photoresist dry etching process. Preferably, the photoresist is formed on the substrate by a spin coating process. Preferably, after the third step is implemented, the film layer to be etched is etched by using the patterned photoresist as a mask, and a target pattern is formed in the film layer to be etched. Preferably, after the third step is implemented, the hard mask layer is etched by taking the patterned photoresist as a mask, and then the film layer to be etched is etched by taking the patterned hard mask layer as a mask, so that a target pattern is formed in the film layer to be etched. As described above, the method for improving the photoresist tower-shaped defects has the advantages that the principle of generating the photoresist tower-shaped defects in the production line is improved in a targeted manner, and small aggregates/fine impurities on the surface of a wafer subjected to photoresist dry etching are washed more strongly by changing the wet cleaning conditions, so that the photoresist tower-shaped defects are improved. Drawings In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the application or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings that are needed in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described, it will be apparent that the drawings in the description below are some embodiments of the application, and that other drawings can be obtained from these drawings without inventive effort for a person skilled in the art. FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a method for improving tower-like defects of photoresist according to an embodiment of the application; Fig. 2 is a graph showing the effect of different cleaning conditions on improving the tower-like defects of the photoresist in the method for improving the tower-like defects of the photoresist according to the embodiment of the application. Detailed Description Other advantages and effects of the present application will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following disclosure, which describes the embodiments of the present application with reference to specific examples. The application may be practiced or carried out in other embodiments that depart from the specific details, and the details of the present description may be modified or varied from the spirit and scope of the present application. The following description of the embodiments of the present application will be made more apparent and fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some, but not all embodiments of the application are shown. All other embodiments, which can be made by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the application without making any inventive effort, are intended to be within the scope of the application. In the description of the present