Claims
- 1. An integrated circuit comprising an interconnect structure, wherein a process of forming said interconnect structure comprises a method for forming a pattered hard mask layer in an organic polymer film, said method comprising the steps of:
fluorinating a part of the organic polymer film, thereby forming a fluorinated part, said fluorinated part forming a first hard mask layer; forming a patterned second hard mask layer on said film; patterning said first hard mask layer using said patterned second hard mask layer as a mask, thereby forming a patterned first hard mask layer; removing said second hard mask layer; and etching said organic polymer film using said patterned first hard mask layer as a mask, wherein at least a part of said first hard mask layer is retained as a dielectric layer.
- 2. The integrated circuit as recited in claim 1, wherein said organic polymer film comprises an organic polymer having at least one phenyl group.
- 3. The integrated circuit as recited in claim 2, wherein said organic polymer film is selected from the group consisting of benzocyclobutarenes, poly arylene ether, aromatic hydrocarbon, and polyimides.
- 4. The integrated circuit as recited in claim 1, wherein the fluorinating step is performed in an ambient comprising fluorine without substantially changing the thickness of said organic polymer layer.
- 5. The integrated circuit as recited in claim 4, wherein said fluorine is generated from a source selected from the group consisting of NF3, SF6, CIF3, F2, Xe F2, and CxFy, with x and y being positive whole numbers greater than zero.
- 6. The integrated circuit as recited in claim 1, wherein said second hard mask layer is selected from the group consisting of oxides, nitrides and oxynitrides.
- 7. An integrated circuit comprising an interconnect structure, wherein a process of forming said interconnect structure comprises a method for patterning an organic polymer layer, said method comprising the steps of:
defining at least one first region and at least one second region in an organic polymer film formed on a substrate, said first region being uncovered and said second region being covered with a layer forming a diffusion barrier for fluorine; exposing said first and said second region to an ambient comprising fluorine resulting in the fluorination of at least a part of said first region, thereby forming a fluorinated part; removing said layer; and selectively removing at least a part of said second region by etching, using said first region as a mask, wherein at least a part of said fluorinated part is retained as a dielectric layer.
- 8. The integrated circuit as recited in claim 7, wherein said organic polymer film comprises an organic polymer having at least one phenyl group.
- 9. The integrated circuit as recited in claim 8, wherein said organic polymer is selected from the group consisting of benzocyclobutarenes, poly arylene ether, aromatic hydrocarbon, and polyimides.
- 10. The integrated circuit as recited in claim 7, wherein said layer forming a diffusion barrier for fluorine is selected from the group consisting of resists, oxides, nitrides and oxynitrides.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a division of application Ser. No. 09/085,691, filed May 27, 1998, which claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) from Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/063,487, filed Oct. 22, 1997.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60063487 |
Oct 1997 |
US |
Divisions (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09085691 |
May 1998 |
US |
Child |
09844959 |
Apr 2001 |
US |