Patent ID: 6869542

Claim:
A method of forming a hole in a dielectric layer formed on a substrate comprising: covering the dielectric layer with a deposit of an inorganic hard mask layer composed of an etch resistant material selected from the group consisting of RCH and RCHX, wherein R is selected from the group consisting of silicon (Si), germanium (Ge), boron (B), tin (Sn), iron (Fe), titanium (Ti) and combinations thereof, C is carbon, H is hydrogen, and X is selected form the group consisting of oxygen (O), nitrogen (N), sulfur (S), and fluorine (F), forming a resist mask with at least one resist mask window therethrough over the inorganic hard mask layer, placing the substrate covered with the dielectric layer, the inorganic hard mask and the resist mask in a fluorocarbon etching chamber while applying a DC bias in the fluorocarbon etching chamber and then performing the steps as follows: etching through the resist mask window in the resist layer with a fluorocarbon plasma etching process to form an inorganic hard mask by forming an opening through the inorganic hard mask layer in the fluorocarbon etching chamber, and then etching through the opening in the inorganic hard mask to form a hole in the dielectric layer in the fluorocarbon etching chamber.