Patent ID: 11935746
Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY LTD.
Field: Semiconductors (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H  B | IPC H

Claim 7:
8. A method for forming a semiconductor device, comprising:
depositing on a substrate a layer to be patterned;
depositing over the layer to be patterned a mask layer having, as deposited, an internal stress, the internal stress being either tensile or compressive;
at least partially compensating for the internal stress of the mask layer by depositing on the mask layer a stress-compensating layer having, as deposited, an internal stress that offsets the internal stress of the mask layer, wherein the internal stress of the stress-compensating layer is, as deposited, compressive when the internal stress of the mask layer is, as deposited, tensile, and further wherein the internal stress of the stress-compensating layer is, as deposited, tensile when the internal stress of the mask layer is, as deposited, compressive, wherein mask layer is silicon oxide and the stress-compensating layer is silicon nitride; and
patterning the mask layer after the step of at least partially compensating for the internal stress.