WO-2026091909-A1 - SUBSTRATE PROCESSING METHOD

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of semiconductor manufacturing, and discloses a substrate processing method. The processing method comprises: providing a substrate that is provided with a protrusion and a trench, wherein the surface of the protrusion is provided with a first oxide layer; wet etching the substrate to remove the first oxide layer; forming a second oxide layer on the substrate, wherein the thickness of the second oxide layer is less than the thickness of the first oxide layer; washing the substrate; and drying the substrate. In the present method, the first oxide layer is removed and the new second oxide layer is generated, so that the etching difficulty of removing the first oxide layer is greatly reduced, which can be implemented by, for example, prolonging the etching time, thereby overcoming strict requirements for etching parameters. In addition, compared with simple etching processing, by generating the new second oxide layer, the thickness of the second oxide layer can also be accurately controlled.

Inventors

• ZHOU, Shihao
• ZHANG, XIAOYAN

Assignees

• 盛美半导体设备(上海)股份有限公司

Dates

Publication Date

20260507

Application Date

20250910

Priority Date

20241101

Claims (9)

1. A substrate processing method, characterized in that it includes: A substrate having protrusions and trenches is provided, wherein the surface of the protrusions has a first oxide layer; The substrate is wet-etched to remove the first oxide layer; A second oxide layer is formed on the substrate, wherein the thickness of the second oxide layer is less than the thickness of the first oxide layer; Clean the substrate; The substrate is then dried.
2. The substrate processing method according to claim 1, wherein the drying process of the substrate includes: The substrate is subjected to hydrophobic treatment; The substrate is dried.
3. The substrate processing method according to claim 2, wherein the hydrophobic treatment of the substrate comprises: The moisture on the substrate is replaced with a drying solution; The dried pharmaceutical solution on the substrate was replaced with a hydrophobic agent; The hydrophobic agent on the substrate is replaced with a drying solution.
4. The substrate processing method according to any one of claims 1-3 is characterized in that, in the steps of cleaning the substrate and drying the substrate, the substrate is kept in a rotating state, and the rotation speed of the substrate is reduced when the processing liquid is replaced.
5. The substrate processing method according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of the second oxide layer is less than or equal to 1 nm.
6. The substrate processing method according to claim 1, wherein the wet etching process uses HF as the processing solution.
7. The substrate processing method according to claim 1, wherein the processing solution used to form the second oxide layer on the substrate is any one of O3 , H2O2 , or SPM.
8. The substrate processing method according to claim 1, wherein the second oxide layer is silicon dioxide.
9. The substrate processing method according to claim 1, wherein the protrusion further includes a barrier layer, and the first oxide layer or the second oxide layer is disposed on the barrier layer.

Description

Substrate processing methods Technical Field This application relates to the field of semiconductor manufacturing technology, and more specifically to a substrate processing method. Background Technology In semiconductor manufacturing, with the increasing integration of devices, more and more substrates have high aspect ratio structures. During the drying process, these high aspect ratio structures are susceptible to capillary forces, leading to collapse or adhesion, severely impacting device performance and reliability. In the drying step, capillary forces originate from the surface tension of the liquid within tiny gaps, causing these high aspect ratio structures to collapse or adhere. To address this issue, existing technologies typically reduce the impact of capillary forces by optimizing the drying process or surface treatment techniques. In the fabrication of high aspect ratio structures on substrates, a thick oxide layer often exists on the substrate surface. After wet removal, drying is required immediately following. Current methods intentionally leave a portion of the oxide layer during hydrofluoric acid removal to reduce the risk of collapse or adhesion of the high aspect ratio structure during subsequent drying. However, this method is highly sensitive to the concentration and time of the hydrofluoric acid etching; slight errors can lead to insufficient or excessive etching of the oxide layer, affecting the drying process. Summary of the Invention To address the aforementioned technical problems, this application provides a substrate processing method. This application solves the above-mentioned technical problems through the following technical solution: A substrate processing method, comprising: A substrate having protrusions and trenches is provided, wherein the surface of the protrusions has a first oxide layer; The substrate is wet-etched to remove the first oxide layer; A second oxide layer is formed on the substrate, wherein the thickness of the second oxide layer is less than the thickness of the first oxide layer; Clean the substrate; The substrate is then dried. The significant advantages of this application are as follows: This method removes the first oxide layer and regenerates the second oxide layer. Compared to methods that strictly control etching concentration and etching time to remove the oxide layer, the etching difficulty of removing the first oxide layer is greatly reduced, overcoming the stringent requirements on etching parameters. Furthermore, compared to simple etching, by regenerating the second oxide layer, the thickness of the second oxide layer can be precisely controlled. Overview of the attached figures Figure 1 is a flowchart of a substrate processing method according to an embodiment of this application; Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of step S100 of a substrate processing method according to an embodiment of this application; Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of step S200 of a substrate processing method according to an embodiment of this application; Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of step S300 of a substrate processing method according to an embodiment of this application. Preferred embodiments of this application The present application is further illustrated below by way of embodiments, but this does not limit the present application to the scope of the embodiments. [Corrected according to Rule 91, October 27, 2025] As shown in Figure 1, this application provides a substrate processing method. Referring to Figures 1, 2, and 4, the substrate processing method of this embodiment includes: S100, a substrate having a protrusion 620 and a trench 640 is provided, wherein the surface of the protrusion 620 has a first oxide layer 630; S200, wet etching of the substrate to remove the first oxide layer 630; S300, A second oxide layer 650 is formed on the substrate, wherein the thickness of the second oxide layer 650 is less than the thickness of the first oxide layer 630; S400, cleaning the substrate; S500, the substrate is dried. This method reduces the stringent requirements on wet etching parameters. Existing methods require strict control of the etching concentration and time when removing the first oxide layer 630; otherwise, over- or under-etching of the first oxide layer 630 may occur, affecting subsequent processes, such as causing trench collapse or adhesion of the substrate during drying. Compared to methods that retain a portion of the first oxide layer 630 while strictly controlling the etching concentration and time, this method eliminates the need to retain any portion of the first oxide layer, significantly reducing the difficulty of completely removing it. This can be achieved by increasing the etching time, overcoming the stringent requirements on etching parameters. Compared to existing methods, this method does not rely on complex etching conditions, greatly improving the stability of the drying process and reducing product defects caused by imprope