Effect of deposition temperature and thermal annealing on the dry etch rate of a-C: H films for the dry etch hard process of semiconductor devices

Abstract

The effect of deposition and thermal annealing temperatures on the dry etch rate of a-C:H films was investigated to increase our fundamental understanding of the relationship between thermal annealing and dry etch rate and to obtain a low dry etch rate hard mask. The hydrocarbon contents and hydrogen concentration were decreased with increasing deposition and annealing temperatures. The I(D)/I(G) intensity ratio and extinction coefficient of the a-C:H films were increased with increasing deposition and annealing temperatures because of the increase of sp(2) bonds in the a-C:H films. There was no relationship between the density of the unpaired electrons and the deposition temperature, or between the density of the unpaired electrons and the annealing temperature. However, the thermally annealed a-C:H films had fewer unpaired electrons compared with the as-deposited ones. Transmission electron microscopy analysis showed the absence of any crystallographic change after thermal annealing. The density of the as-deposited films was increased with increasing deposition temperature. The density of the 600 degrees C annealed a-C:H films deposited under 450 degrees C was decreased but at 550 degrees C was increased, and the density of all 800 degrees C annealed films was increased. The dry etch rate of the as-deposited a-C:H films was negatively correlated with the deposition temperature. The dry etch rate of the 600 degrees C annealed a-C:H films deposited at 350 degrees C and 450 degrees C was faster than that of the as-deposited film and that of the 800 degrees C annealed a-C:H films deposited at 350 degrees C and 450 degrees C was 17% faster than that of the as-deposited film. However, the dry etch rate of the 550 degrees C deposited a-C:H film was decreased after annealing at 600 degrees C and 800 degrees C. The dry etch rate of the as-deposited films was decreased with increasing density but that of the annealed a-C:H films was not. These results indicated that the dry etch rate of a-C:H films for dry etch hard masks can be further decreased by thermal annealing of the high density, as-deposited a-C:H films. Furthermore, not only the density itself but also the variation of density with thermal annealing need to be elucidated in order to understand the dry etch properties of annealed a-C:H films. Published by Elsevier B.V.