PATENT CLAIM ANALYSIS

Application Number: 15881506
Application Type: Utility
Filing Date: 2018-01
Publication Date: 2019-08
Patent Classification: ["438", "703000"]

Abstract:
Methods and apparatuses for spacer profile control using atomic layer deposition (ALD) in multi-patterning processes are described herein. A silicon oxide spacer is deposited over a patterned core material and a target layer of a substrate in a multi-patterning scheme. A first thickness of the silicon oxide spacer is deposited by multiple ALD cycles under a first oxidation condition that includes an oxidation time, a plasma power, and a substrate temperature. A second thickness of the silicon oxide spacer is deposited by multiple ALD cycles under a second oxidation condition, where the second oxidation condition is different than the first oxidation condition by one or more parameters. After etching the patterned core material, a resulting profile of the silicon oxide spacer is dependent at least in part on the first and second oxidation conditions.

Claim (Index 20):
An apparatus for controlling a slope of a plurality of silicon oxide spacers, the apparatus comprising:\n a plasma chamber; an RF power supply coupled to the plasma chamber and configured to deliver RF power to the plasma chamber; a substrate support for supporting a substrate in the plasma chamber, wherein the substrate includes a patterned core material and a target layer under the patterned core material; and a controller configured to perform the following instructions:\n (i) deposit, in the plasma chamber, a first thickness of a silicon oxide layer by atomic layer deposition (ALD) on the substrate, wherein depositing the first thickness of the silicon oxide layer by ALD includes exposing the substrate to a first dose of a silicon-containing precursor and exposing the substrate to plasma of an oxidant under a first oxidation condition; \n (ii) deposit, in the plasma chamber, a second thickness of the silicon oxide layer by ALD on the first thickness of the silicon oxide layer, wherein depositing the second thickness of the silicon oxide layer by ALD includes exposing the substrate to a second dose of the silicon-containing precursor and exposing the substrate to plasma of the oxidant under a second oxidation condition, the second oxidation condition being different from the first oxidation condition; and \n (iii) etch, in the plasma chamber, a portion of the silicon oxide layer and the patterned core material to form a plurality of spacers, wherein the plurality of spacers comprise a remaining portion of the silicon oxide layer to serve as a mask for the target layer.

Metadata:
- Claim Count in Document: 56.0
- Percentile: 86.0
- Lexical Diversity: 2.10145
- Patent Class: 438.0
- Transitional Phrase Type: open
- Component Type: 1
- Foreign Priority: False
- Related Applications: ['15279312', '15705955', '14878576', '15874766', '14194324']

Analysis Scores:
- 35 USC 101 Eligibility (BERT): 0.7852377797980186
- 35 USC 102 Novelty (BERT): 0.5046317397615971
- Combined Prediction Score: 0.7571771757943765
- Mean Citation Score: 256.7855
- Max Citation Score: 263.5553
- Similarity Product: 195.75568047540187

Labels:
- Claim Label 101: 1
- Claim Label 102: 1
- Claim Label 103: 1
- Claim Label 112: 0
- Combined Label: 1
- Label 101 Adjusted: 1

Dataset: test