EP0429270A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Continuous etching method and apparatus therefor
Assignee: Kokusai Denki Electric Inc
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Filing: 1990-11-19
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2010-11-19
Abstract
Abstract A plurality of resist membranes are formed on a semiconductor wafer to be etched. The top resist is patterned by light beam, laser beam, X-rays, or electron beams to form a mask. The wafer is transferred to a first unit (2) into which discharging gas is introduced and plasma is generated in order to dry-etch the multilayer resists. The multilayer is transferred to a second unit (3) in a vacuum. In the second unit, the membrane of the wafer is dry-etched to a predetermined depth. The wafer then is transferred to a third unit (4) in a vacuum where part of the resist is removed according to the mask pattern and treatment of the resist by the plasma.
Inventors
- 👤 Sadayuki Okudaira
- 👤 Hideo Komatsu
- 👤 Osamu Matsumoto
- 👤 Motoichi Kanazawa
- 👤 Kazuo Sasada
- 👤 Tsuyoshi Naito
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 02:06
CPC Classifications
H; H10; H10P; H10P50/00; H10P50/20; H10P50/26; H10P50/264; H10P50/266; H10P50/267; G; G03; G03F; G03F7/00; G03F7/26; G03F7/36; H10P50/28; H10P50/282; H10P50/283; H10P50/286; H10P50/287; H10P50/71; H10P50/73; H10P72/00; H10P72/04; H10P72/0402; H10P72/0418; H10P72/0421; H10P72/30; H10P72/33; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S438/00; Y10S438/907
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 12
Claim 1
Independent Claim
122 words
A continuous etching method comprising the steps of : forming a multilayer resist membrane on a member to be etched; patterning the top resist layer by means of, for example, light, x-ray or electronic line drawing; conveying the member to a first treatment region (2); introducing a gas to the first treatment region and generating a discharge plasma; dry-etching the multi layer resist; conveying the member to a second treatment region (3); dry-etching the member to a predetermined depth in the second treatment region; conveying the member to a third treatment region (4); and removing the resist according to the patterning and plasma treatment in the third treatment region; characterised by conveying the member between the treatment regions in an evacuated environment.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
122 words
A continuous etching method comprising the steps of : forming a multilayer resist membrane on a member to be etched; patterning the top resist layer by means of, for example, light, x-ray or electronic line drawing; conveying the member to a first treatment region (2); introducing a gas to the first treatment region and generating a discharge plasma; dry-etching the multi layer resist; conveying the member to a second treatment region (3); dry-etching the member to a predetermined depth in the second treatment region; conveying the member to a third treatment region (4); and removing the resist according to the patterning and plasma treatment in the third treatment region; characterised by conveying the member between the treatment regions in an evacuated environment.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
40 words
A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the member to be etched consists of a plurality of layers and, when respective layers cannot be etched in the same gaseous environment, performing each etching step in an individual treatment region.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
21 words
A method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the respective gaseous environments of the individual treatment regions are fluorinous and chlorinous.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
38 words
A method as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, including heat treating the member simultaneously with removal of the resist in the third treatment unit and plasma treating the member so as to form a protective cover.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
18 words
A method as claimed in claim 4, wherein the reaction gas for generating the protective cover is hydrocarbon-based.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
109 words
Continuous etching apparatus comprising a vacuum conveying chamber (6), a load unit (1) communicable with the vacuum conveying chamber through a first air-tight gate (7), an unload unit (5) communicable with the vacuum conveying chamber through a second air-tight gate (8), a resist etching unit (2) communicable with the vacuum conveying chamber through a third air-tight gate (9), and a further etching unit (3) communicable with the vacuum conveying chamber through a fourth air-tight gate (10) , an after-treatment unit (4) communicable with the vacuum conveying chamber through a fifth air-tight gate (11), and conveying means (17,18,19,20) in the vacuum conveying chamber arranged to convey articles between respective units.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
109 words
Continuous etching apparatus comprising a vacuum conveying chamber (6), a load unit (1) communicable with the vacuum conveying chamber through a first air-tight gate (7), an unload unit (5) communicable with the vacuum conveying chamber through a second air-tight gate (8), a resist etching unit (2) communicable with the vacuum conveying chamber through a third air-tight gate (9), and a further etching unit (3) communicable with the vacuum conveying chamber through a fourth air-tight gate (10) , an after-treatment unit (4) communicable with the vacuum conveying chamber through a fifth air-tight gate (11), and conveying means (17,18,19,20) in the vacuum conveying chamber arranged to convey articles between respective units.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
27 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein the resist etching unit and the further etching unit, each comprises cooling means, and the after-treatment unit comprises heating means.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
18 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein the cooling means comprise a liquified nitrogen-based cooler and a heater.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
16 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein the cooling means comprises a refrigerator and a heater.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
34 words
Apparatus as claimed in any of claim 6 to 9, further comprising a waiting unit (27) in the vacuum conveying chamber in which members to be etched can be queued during conveyance between units.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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