PATENT CLAIM ANALYSIS

Application Number: 15909814
Application Type: Utility
Filing Date: 2018-03
Publication Date: 2018-07
Patent Classification: ["438", "695000"]

Abstract:
Provided herein are methods and related apparatus to smooth the edges of features patterned using extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography. In some embodiments, at least one cycle of depositing passivation layer that preferentially collects in crevices of a feature leaving protuberances exposed, and etching the feature to remove the exposed protuberances, thereby smoothing the feature, is performed. The passivation material may preferentially collect in the crevices due to a higher surface to volume ratio in the crevices than in the protuberances. In some embodiments, local critical dimension uniformity (LCDU), a measure of roughness in contact holes, is reduced. In some embodiments, at least one cycle of depositing a thin layer in a plurality of holes formed in photoresist, the holes having different CDs, wherein the thin layer preferentially deposits in the larger CD holes, and anisotropically removing the thin layer to remove it at the bottoms of the holes, is performed.

Claim (Index 22):
The method of  claim 21 , further comprising reducing surface roughness of the one or more second patterned features.

Metadata:
- Claim Count in Document: 20.0
- Percentile: 90.0
- Lexical Diversity: 2.03571
- Patent Class: 438.0
- Transitional Phrase Type: open
- Component Type: 1
- Foreign Priority: False
- Related Applications: ['14185757', '15494245', '15053987', '15820110', '14320245']

Analysis Scores:
- 35 USC 101 Eligibility (BERT): 0.8392064701881996
- 35 USC 102 Novelty (BERT): 0.5039396597160138
- Combined Prediction Score: 0.805679789140981
- Mean Citation Score: 178.141294
- Max Citation Score: 188.52684
- Similarity Product: 106.99644221905233

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

Dataset: test