Mechanism for bow reduction and critical dimension control in etching silicon dioxide using hydrogen-containing additive gases in fluorocarbon gas chemistry

摘要

A method of etching an oxide layer in a plasma etching reactor is disclosed. The method includes the steps of providing a semiconductor substrate including the oxide layer into the plasma etching reactor and flowing an etching gas that includes a fluorocarbon gas, a nitrogen reactant gas, an oxygen reactant gas, an inert carrier gas, and a hydrogen-containing additive gas into the plasma etching reactor. The method further includes etching an opening at least partially through the oxide layer using a plasma that is formed from the etching gas.