Application of downstream plasma generated radical methylation treatment to passive amorphous Si surface from TMAH etching during lithography process

Relentless semiconductor device scaling relies on lithography technology advancement. Patterning films including hardmask, anti-reflective coating (ARC) and photoresist (PR) materials continue to evolve, and more underlying materials are exposed in increasingly complex 3D device structures. As a result, industry is continuously seeking solutions to integrate new patterning films with different underlying materials and structures, and surface treatment for materials protection plays an increasingly important role in process integration. In this paper, we present a radical based surface methylation process. The novel surface methylation treatment process increases surface wetting angle in preparation of patterning film coating, and can effectively protect various sensitive underlying materials. The versatile technology has many potential applications in 3D device fabrication, e.g. a new adhesion promoter for ARC/PR coating.