Patent ID: 7049050

Claim:
A method of modifying a slope of sidewalls of openings created in a layer of photoresist, comprising: coating a layer of photoresist over at least one layer of semiconductor material formed over a substrate; patterning said layer of photoresist, creating at least one opening through said layer of photoresist having sidewalls, said at least one opening comprising a via hole and/or an interconnect line trench; providing a hot plate having first and second surface said first surfaces, being opposite said second surface; mounting said substrate on said second surface of said hot plate; applying energy in the form of heat to said hot plate for a first period of time, thereby supplying energy in the form of heat to said patterned layer of photoresist, while said second surface is oriented in a downwards position to at least about face a horizontal plane coinciding with a plane of the earth's surface; after said first period of time, orienting said hot plate in an upwards position opposite said downwards position, thereby creating a modified layer of photoresist having openings of modified slopes of sidewalls of said openings; and patterning said at least one layer of semiconductor material using said modified layer of photoresist.