Selective liquid phase deposition of silicon oxide at low temperature for nanometer-scale structures

Abstract

Selective liquid phase deposition to overcome the thermal stress that occurs on photoresist patterns during semiconductor device fabrication was investigated. Silicon oxide films were selectively deposited on silicon substrates at temperatures under 50 °C without damaging the photoresist patterns. The deposited SiO 2 films had a uniform surface, good step coverage, and excellent chemical stability. A line-and-space structure of silicon oxide at the nanometer scale (≤ 100 nm) was successfully produced by plasma downstream ashing and selective liquid phase deposition. This method can therefore be used to fabricate unique tools for nanometer-scale devices.