METHOD FOR FABRICATING CAPACITOR IN SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE

Abstract

A method for fabricating a capacitor in a semiconductor device includes forming a stack structure providing a plurality of open regions, the stack structure including an insulation layer and a hard mask pattern, forming a conductive layer over the stack structure and in the open regions, etching a portion of the conductive layer formed outside the open regions to form bottom electrodes in the open regions, removing the hard mask pattern, and etching upper portions of the bottom electrodes that are exposed after the hard mask pattern is removed.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor device after a typical bottom electrode isolation process using an etch-back process is performed;

FIG. 2 illustrates a micrographic view of limitations caused by the typical method; and

FIGS. 3A to 3I illustrate cross-sectional views to describe a method for fabricating a capacitor in a semiconductor device consistent with an embodiment of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for fabricating a capacitor in a semiconductor device, the method comprising: forming a stack structure providing a plurality of open regions, the stack structure including an insulation layer and a hard mask pattern;forming a conductive layer over the stack structure and in the open regions;etching a portion of the conductive layer formed outside the open regions to form bottom electrodes in the open regions;removing the hard mask pattern; andetching upper portions of the bottom electrodes that are exposed after the hard mask pattern is removed.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the etching-a-portion-of-the-conductive-layer step and the etching-the-upper-portions-of-the-bottom-electrodes step comprise performing an etch-back process.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein performing the etch-back process associated with the etching-a-portion-of-the-conductive-layer step comprises controlling an etch target in a manner that a top surface of the bottom electrodes is formed at a higher position than a top surface of the insulation layer.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein performing the etch-back process associated with the etching-a-portion-of-the-conductive-layer step comprises performing an overetch, and an etch target of the overetch comprises exposing the hard mask pattern.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein performing the etch-back process associated with the etching-the-upper-portions-of-the-bottom-electrodes step comprises having the insulation layer as an etch target.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the hard mask pattern comprises a stacked layer configured with an amorphous carbon layer and a silicon oxynitride layer, and the amorphous carbon layer remains after the open regions are formed.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the amorphous carbon layer has a thickness ranging from approximately 3,000 Å to approximately 10,000 Å, and the silicon oxynitride layer has a thickness ranging from approximately 300 Å to approximately 1,000 Å.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein selectively removing the hard mask pattern comprises performing a dry etching process using oxygen plasma.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the insulation layer of the stack structure comprises an etch stop layer and a sacrificial insulation layer, the etch stop layer comprising a nitride-based layer and the sacrificial insulation layer comprising an oxide-based layer.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein forming the stack structure comprises: forming the etch stop layer, the sacrificial insulation layer, and a hard mask;forming a photoresist pattern over the hard mask;etching the hard mask using the photoresist pattern as an etch barrier to form the hard mask pattern;etching the sacrificial insulation layer using the hard mask pattern as an etch barrier to form the open regions; andetching the etch stop layer provided below the open regions.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the sacrificial insulation layer is etched using a gas having a high carbon content, and the etch stop layer is etched using a gas having a low carbon content.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the gas having a high carbon content comprises one selected from a group consisting of C4F6 and C4F8, and the gas having a low carbon content comprises one selected from a group consisting of tetrafluoromethane (CF4), fluoroform (CHF3), and hexafluoroethane (C2F6).

13. The method of claim 12, wherein etching the sacrificial insulation layer comprises using a gas mixture including the gas having a high carbon content and three or more gases selected from a group consisting of oxygen (O2), argon (Ar), octafluoropropane (C3F8), CF4, and a combination thereof.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the etching-a-portion-of-the-conductive-layer step uses a gas mixture including a first gas for performing a physical etching and a second gas for performing a chemical etching by reacting a plasma of the second gas with the conductive layer.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the conductive layer comprises titanium mononitride (TiN), the first gas comprises an inert gas, and the second gas comprises a chlorine-based gas.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the inert gas comprises Ar gas and the chlorine-based gas comprises one selected from a group consisting of chlorine (Cl2), hydrogen chloride (HCl), carbon tetrachloride (CCl4), and a combination thereof.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein an additive gas selected from a group consisting of sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), trichloroborane (BCl3), and CF4 is added to the gas mixture comprising the inert gas and the chlorine-based gas.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein a flow rate of the inert gas ranges from approximately 60% to approximately 80% of a flow rate of a total etch gas, a flow rate of the chlorine-based gas ranges from approximately 10% to approximately 30% of the flow rate of the total etch gas, and a flow rate of the additive gas is approximately 10% of the flow rate of the total etch gas.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising, after selectively etching the upper portions of the bottom electrodes: removing the insulation layer using a full dip-out process; andsequentially forming a dielectric layer and an upper electrode over the bottom electrodes.