1. A barrier film material used for forming a barrier film provided between a resist film and a liquid in exposing the resist film with the liquid provided on the resist film, comprising a compound whose alkali-insoluble property is changed to an alkali-soluble property through molecular structure change caused by an alkaline solution.
2. The barrier film material of claim 1,
wherein the compound is a polymer.
3. The barrier film material of claim 1,
wherein the compound has an ester structure.
4. The barrier film material of claim 3,
wherein the ester structure is lactone.
5. The barrier film material of claim 4,
wherein the lactone is \u03b3-butyrolactone, \u03b4-valerolactone, \u03b4-pentalactone, \u03b5-caprolactone or mevalonic lactone.
6. The barrier film material of claim 1,
wherein the barrier film includes polyvinyl alcohol, polyacrylic acid or polyvinyl hexafluoroisopropyl alcohol.
7. A pattern formation method comprising the steps of:
forming a resist film on a substrate;
forming, on the resist film, a barrier film including a compound whose alkali-insoluble property is changed to an alkali-soluble property through molecular structure change caused by an alkaline solution;
performing pattern exposure by selectively irradiating the resist film through the barrier film with exposing light with a liquid provided on the barrier film;
removing the barrier film after the pattern exposure; and
forming a resist pattern made of the resist film by developing the resist film.
8. The pattern formation method of claim 7,
wherein the compound included in the barrier film is a polymer.
9. The pattern formation method of claim 7,
wherein the compound included in the barrier film has an ester structure.
10. The pattern formation method of claim 9,
wherein the ester structure is lactone.
11. The pattern formation method of claim 10,
wherein the lactone is \u03b3-butyrolactone, \u03b4-valerolactone, \u03b4-pentalactone, \u03b5-caprolactone or mevalonic lactone.
12. The pattern formation method of claim 7,
wherein the barrier film includes polyvinyl alcohol, polyacrylic acid or polyvinyl hexafluoroisopropyl alcohol.
13. The pattern formation method of claim 7, further comprising a step of annealing the barrier film between the step of forming a barrier film and the step of performing pattern exposure.
14. The pattern formation method of claim 7,
wherein the liquid is water or an acidic solution.
15. The pattern formation method of claim 14,
wherein the acidic solution is a cesium sulfate aqueous solution or a phosphoric acid aqueous solution.
16. The pattern formation method of claim 7,
wherein the exposing light is ArF excimer laser, KrF excimer laser, Xe2 laser, F2 laser, KrAr laser or Ar2 laser.
17. A pattern formation method comprising the steps of:
forming a resist film on a substrate;
forming, on the resist film, a barrier film including a compound whose alkali-insoluble property is changed to an alkali-soluble property through molecular structure change caused by an alkaline solution;
performing pattern exposure by selectively irradiating the resist film through the barrier film with exposing light with a liquid provided on the barrier film; and
removing the barrier film and forming a resist pattern made of the resist film by developing the resist film after the pattern exposure.
18. The pattern formation method of claim 17,
wherein the compound included in the barrier film is a polymer.
19. The pattern formation method of claim 17,
wherein the compound included in the barrier film has an ester structure.
20. The pattern formation method of claim 19,
wherein the ester structure is lactone.
21. The pattern formation method of claim 20,
wherein the lactone is \u03b3-butyrolactone, \u03b4-valerolactone, \u03b4-pentalactone, \u03b5-caprolactone or mevalonic lactone.
22. The pattern formation method of claim 17,
wherein the barrier film includes polyvinyl alcohol, polyacrylic acid or polyvinyl hexafluoroisopropyl alcohol.
23. The pattern formation method of claim 17, further comprising a step of annealing the barrier film between the step of forming a barrier film and the step of performing pattern exposure.
24. The pattern formation method of claim 17,
wherein the liquid is water or an acidic solution.
25. The pattern formation method of claim 17,
wherein the exposing light is ArF excimer laser, KrF excimer laser, Xe2 laser, F2 laser, KrAr laser or Ar2 laser.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A process for removal of a photoresist layer from a semiconductor wafer in a chamber, comprising:
a. creating a microwave-energy-generated plasma with no RIE and at a standard temperature, with a first gas mixture comprising oxygen and a fluorine-containing gas, the amount of the fluorine-containing gas sufficient to convert a polymer on side walls of etched features in the wafer to a water soluble form, and contacting the wafer with the microwave-energy-generated plasma;
b. subsequent to creating, stripping the photoresist layer from the wafer using a microwave-energy-generated plasma of a second gas mixture comprising oxygen and a nitrogen species, and no fluorine-containing gas and without an RIE process and at a relatively high temperature;
c. determining an endpoint to the stripping of the photoresist layer by a determined change in visible light in the chamber; and
d. removing the converted polymer with water.
2. The process of claim 1 wherein the stripping comprises creating the microwave-energy-generated plasma in a compartment separate from the wafer, and conveying the microwave-energy-generated plasma to the wafer.
3. The process of claim 1 wherein the change in visible light is a change in light intensity.
4. The process of claim 1 wherein the change in visible light is a change in color.
5. The process of claim 1 wherein the wafer comprises a TiN layer and additionally comprising, after the steps of claim 1, deglazing the TiN layer.
6. The process of claim 5 wherein the deglazing comprises creating a deglazing microwave-energy-generated plasma with no RIE process, with a deglazing gas mixture comprising oxygen and a fluorine-containing gas, and contacting the wafer with the deglazing microwave-energy-generated plasma.
7. A multi-step fabrication method for a semiconductor wafer comprising:
a. contacting the wafer with a first microwave-generated plasma formed with a first gas mixture comprising oxygen and a fluorine-containing species, the wafer between about 30 and about 50 degrees Celsius, the first microwave-generated plasma being effective to convert the polymer on side walls of etched features in the wafer to a water soluble form;
b. contacting the wafer with a second microwave-generated plasma formed with a second gas mixture comprising oxygen and a nitrogen species, and no fluorine-containing gas, heating the wafer to about 250 degrees Celsius, the second microwave-generated plasma being effective to remove a photoresist layer from the wafer;
c. cooling the wafer;
d. contacting the wafer with a third microwave-generated plasma formed with a third gas mixture comprising oxygen, a nitrogen species, and a fluorine-containing species, the wafer less than about 135 degrees Celsius, and the third microwave-generated plasma being effective to remove oxides from metal surfaces on the wafer; and
e. removing the converted polymer with water.
8. The method of claim 7, additionally comprising detecting the temperature before step \u201cd\u201d to assure the wafer is less than about 135 degrees Celsius.
9. The method of claim 7, the heating comprising applying heat from a lamp heater disposed above the wafer.
10. The method of claim 7, the fluorine-containing species of the first gas mixture comprising greater than about 4.0 percent and less than about 10.0 percent of the first gas mixture.