Patent ID: 7998872

Claim:
A method of dry developing an anti-reflective coating (ARC) layer on a substrate, comprising: disposing a substrate comprising a multi-layer mask in a plasma processing system, wherein said multi-layer mask comprises a lithographic layer overlying a silicon-containing ARC layer which is overlying an organic planarization layer (OPL) and wherein said lithographic layer comprises a feature pattern formed therein using a lithographic process, said feature pattern having a first critical dimension (CD); establishing a process recipe configured to cause a reduction from said first CD in said lithographic layer to a second CD in said silicon-containing ARC layer and a reduction from a first edge roughness value to a second edge roughness value in said silicon-containing ARC layer; introducing a process gas to said plasma processing system according to said process recipe, said process gas comprising a non-polymerizing gas and polymerizing gas; forming plasma from said process gas in said plasma processing system according to said process recipe; exposing said substrate to said plasma in order to transfer said feature pattern in said lithographic layer to said underlying silicon-containing ARC layer; and transferring said feature pattern with said second CD in said silicon-containing ARC layer to said OPL using a dry etching process.