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SamsungGranted patentChips & hardwareInterest 3/10

Samsung patents chemical method for etching hafnium oxide in chips

Samsung describes a technique for removing specific parts of a hafnium oxide layer used in computer chips. The process involves exposing the material to a gas mixture without plasma to alter its surface, followed by washing it with an acidic solution to remove the changed area.

Why it mattersThis is a detailed manufacturing improvement that helps create precise patterns in semiconductor materials, which is essential for making smaller and more efficient computer components.

In the filing’s own words

A method of manufacturing an integrated circuit device includes forming a hafnium oxide film on a substrate and partially etching the hafnium oxide film. Partially etching the hafnium oxide film includes performing a dry treatment that changes components of a surface region that extends from an exposed surface of the hafnium oxide film into the hafnium oxide film by as much as a predetermined thickness by isotropically exposing the hafnium oxide film to a gas mixture that includes a halogen element-containing gas and a catalytic gas that includes hydrogen atoms in an atmosphere in which no plasma is applied onto the substrate, performing a wet treatment with an acidic solution that at least partially removes the component-changed surface region from the hafnium oxide film, and repeating a sequence of the dry treatment and the wet treatment.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A method of manufacturing an integrated circuit device, the method comprising: forming a hafnium oxide film on a substrate; and etching a portion of the hafnium oxide film, wherein etching the portion of the hafnium oxide film comprises: performing a dry treatment that changes components of a surface region of the hafnium oxide film by isotropically exposing the hafnium oxide film to a gas mixture, wherein the gas mixture comprises a halogen element-containing gas and a catalytic gas that includes hydrogen atoms, in an atmosphere in which no plasma is applied onto the substrate, wherein the surface region extends from an exposed surface of the hafnium oxide film into the hafnium oxide film by as much as a predetermined thickness; performing a wet treatment with an acidic solution that removes at least a portion of the component-changed surface region from the hafnium oxide film; and repeating a sequence of the dry treatment and the wet treatment.

Facts

Company
Samsung (SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.)
Official title
Method of manufacturing integrated circuit device
Patent number
US12765283B2
Application number
18652323
Filed
May 1, 2024
Granted
Oct 13, 2026
Inventors
11
Claims
20

Classified under

H10P 14/693 Electricity & electronicsH10P 14/6339 Electricity & electronicsH10P 14/69215 Electricity & electronicsH10P 50/287 Electricity & electronics
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.