Using a Novel Solvent-based Technology to Preserve Low-k Material when Removing Gap Fill Material

Abstract

As the technology nodes shrink, device makers are running into barriers with traditional post etch process flows. In the back-end-of-line (BEOL), the porous low-k materials can be damaged by the etch chemistries, the dry ash plasmas and the subsequent cleaning processes. Replacing the dry ash and typical wet cleaning processes with a one step selective solvent-based removal process can work to protect the etched low-k. The solvent-based blend must remove the reactive ion etch (RIE) residues and gap fill material used in the patterning step while preserving the low-k from further damage. This paper will focus on the removal of films and post etch residues in under 2 minutes with a novel solvent formulation.

Towards Fully Aqueous Ozone Wet Strip of 193 nm Photoresist Stack Using UV Pre-Treatments in Low-kPatterning Applications

“…[5][6][7][8] Relying on a long tradition of development of solvent based strippers, chemical companies developed a new generation of organic wet strippers targeting the new challenges. [9][10][11][12][13][14] The most widely-used commercially available organic strippers used to be the phenol-based ones, but their short pot life and difficulties with phenol disposal made phenol free strippers, e.g. amine-based strippers, the more popular choice nowadays.…”