Patent Document

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The invention relates to a method for fabricating semiconductor device, and more particularly to a method of utilizing sidewall image transfer (SIT) technique for fabricating fin-shaped structures. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Prior Art 
         [0004]    With increasing miniaturization of semiconductor devices, it is crucial to maintain the efficiency of miniaturized semiconductor devices in the industry. However, as the size of the field effect transistors (FETs) is continuously shrunk, the development of the planar FETs faces more limitations in the fabricating process thereof. On the other hand, non-planar FETs, such as the fin field effect transistor (Fin FET) have three-dimensional structure, not only capable of increasing the contact to the gate but also improving the controlling of the channel region, such that the non-planar FETs have replaced the planar FETs and become the mainstream of the development. 
         [0005]    The current method of forming the Fin FETs is forming a fin structure on a substrate primary, and then forming a gate on the fin structure. The fin structure generally includes the stripe-shaped fin formed by etching the substrate. However, under the requirements of continuous miniaturization, the width of each fin, as well as the pitch between fins have to be shrunk accordingly. Thus, the fabricating process of the Fin FETs also faces more challenges and limitations. For example, the fabricating process is limited by current mask and lithography techniques, such that it has problems to precisely define the position of the fin structure, or to precisely control the etching time, thereby leading to the fin collapse or over-etching issues, and seriously affecting the efficiency of the fin structure. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide a method of fabricating semiconductor device for resolving aforementioned issues caused by conventional art during the fabrication of fin-shaped structures. The method includes the steps of: providing a substrate; forming a material layer on the substrate; forming a patterned first hard mask on the material layer; forming a patterned second hard mask on the material; utilizing the patterned first hard mask and the patterned second hard mask to remove part of the material layer for forming sacrificial mandrels; forming sidewall spacers adjacent to the sacrificial mandrels; removing the sacrificial mandrels; and using the sidewall spacers to remove part of the substrate. 
         [0007]    According to another aspect of the present invention, a method for fabricating semiconductor device includes the steps of: providing a substrate; forming a material layer on the substrate; patterning the material layer to form a patterned material layer; covering a first hard mask on the patterned material layer; removing part of the first hard mask and part of the patterned material layer; removing the remaining first hard mask for forming sacrificial mandrels; forming sidewall spacers adjacent to the sacrificial mandrels; removing the sacrificial mandrels; and using the sidewall spacers to remove part of the substrate. 
         [0008]    These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]      FIGS. 1-8  illustrate a method for fabricating semiconductor device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0010]      FIGS. 9-15  illustrate a method for fabricating semiconductor device according to another embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0011]    Referring to  FIGS. 1-8 ,  FIGS. 1-8  illustrate a method for fabricating semiconductor device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 1 , a substrate  12 , such as silicon substrate is provided, and a pad oxide layer  14 , a pad nitride layer  16 , and an oxide layer  18  are formed sequentially on the substrate  12 . A material layer  20  is then formed on the oxide layer  18 , a hard mask  22  is formed on the material layer  20 , an organic dielectric layer (ODL)  24  is formed on the hard mask  22 , and a silicon-containing hard mask bottom anti-reflective coating (SHB) layer  26  is formed on the ODL  24 . In this embodiment, the material layer  20  is preferably composed of amorphous silicon, the hard mask  22  is composed of silicon nitride, but not limited thereto. 
         [0012]    Next, a photo-etching process is conducted by first forming a patterned resist  28  on the SHB layer  26 , and as shown in  FIG. 2 , an etching process is conducted by using the patterned resist  28  as mask to remove part of the SHB layer  26 , ODL  24 , and hard mask  22  to form a patterned SHB layer (not shown), a patterned ODL (not shown), and a patterned hard mask  30 . The patterned resist  28 , patterned SHB layer, and patterned ODL are then removed so that only the patterned hard mask  30  is remained on the material layer  20 . It should be noted that at this stage of the fabrication, a region could be pre-defined to be used for fabricating device thereafter. For instance, a region  32  could be defined to be used for fabricating high-voltage devices while the region  34  could be used for fabricating metal gate transistors in the later process, in which the hard mask in the region  32  is substantially larger than the hard mask in the other region. In the region  34 , the smallest pitch between any two adjacent patterned hard mask  30  is preferably around 128 nm. 
         [0013]    Next, as shown in  FIG. 3 , another hard mask  36  is formed on the patterned hard mask  30 , and another SHB layer  38  is formed on the hard mask  36 . In this embodiment, the hard mask  36  is preferably another ODL, but not limited thereto. 
         [0014]    Next, as shown in  FIGS. 3-4 , another photo-etching process is conducted by using another patterned resist  92  as mask to remove part of the SHB layer  38  and hard mask  36  for forming a patterned SHB layer (not shown) and patterned hard mask  40 . The patterned resist and patterned SHB layer are then removed so that only the patterned hard mask  40  is remained on the substrate  12 . At this stage, the smallest pitch between any one hard mask from the patterned hard mask  40  to another hard mask is approximately 128 nm and each patterned hard mask  30  and patterned hard mask  40  are preferably disposed alternately. 
         [0015]    Next, as shown in  FIG. 5 , an etching process is conducted by using the patterned hard mask  30  and patterned hard mask  40  as mask to remove part of the material layer  20  for forming a plurality of sacrificial mandrels  42 . At this stage, the smallest pitch between the sacrificial mandrels  42  is approximately 64 nm. 
         [0016]    Next, as shown in  FIG. 6 , a cap layer (not shown) is formed on the oxide layer  18  and sacrificial mandrels  42 , and an etching back process is carried out to form a plurality of spacers  44  adjacent to the sidewalls of the sacrificial mandrel  42 . 
         [0017]    Next, as shown in  FIG. 7 , a patterned resist (not shown) is formed to cover the sacrificial mandrels  42  and spacers  44  on the region  32 , and an etching process is conducted to remove sacrificial mandrels  42  on the region  34  or other sacrificial mandrels  42  not covered by the patterned resist. 
         [0018]    As shown in  FIG. 8 , an etching process is carried out by using the sacrificial mandrels  42  on the region  32  and spacer  44  as mask to remove part of the oxide layer  18 , part of the pad nitride layer  16 , part of the pad oxide layer  14 , and part of the substrate through single or multiple etching processes. For instance, an etching could be conducted by using each spacer  44  as mask to remove part of the oxide layer  18  and part of the pad nitride layer  16 , and then using the patterned oxide layer  18  and patterned nitride layer  16  as mask to remove the sacrificial mandrels  42  and part of the substrate  12  for forming a plurality of openings  46  and defining a plurality fin-shaped structures. Next, a pad layer could be formed on the surface of the openings  46  through atomic layer deposition (ALD) or in-situ steam generation (ISSG) and insulating material could be deposited into the openings  46  thereafter to form shallow trench isolations (STIs). This completes the fabrication of a semiconductor device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Preferably, the region  32  is used for fabricating planar devices such as high-voltage devices thereafter while the region  34  with fin-shaped structures is used for fabricating non-planar devices such as metal gate transistors. 
         [0019]    Referring to  FIGS. 9-15 ,  FIGS. 9-15  illustrate a method for fabricating semiconductor device according to another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 9 , a substrate  62 , such as silicon substrate is provided, and a pad oxide layer  64 , a pad nitride layer  66 , and an oxide layer  68  are formed sequentially on the substrate  62 . A material layer  70  is then formed on the oxide layer  68 , a hard mask  72  is formed on the material layer  70 , and a silicon-containing hard mask bottom anti-reflective coating (SHB) layer  74  is formed on the hard mask  72 . In this embodiment, the material layer  70  is preferably composed of amorphous silicon, the hard mask  72  is composed of an organic dielectric layer (ODL), but not limited thereto. 
         [0020]    Next, a photo-etching process is conducted by first forming a patterned resist  76  on the SHB layer  74 , and as shown in  FIG. 10 , an etching process is conducted by using the patterned resist  76  as mask to remove part of the SHB layer  74 , hard mask  72 , and material layer  70  to form a patterned SHB layer (not shown), a patterned hard mask (not shown), and a patterned material layer  78 . The patterned resist, patterned SHB layer, and patterned hard mask are then removed so that only the patterned material layer  78  is remained on the oxide layer  68 . At this stage, the smallest pitch between one material layer to another material layer from the patterned material layer  78  is preferably around 128 nm. 
         [0021]    Next, as shown in  FIG. 11 , another hard mask  80  is formed on the patterned material layer  78  and oxide layer  68 , and another SHB layer  82  is formed on the hard mask  80 . In this embodiment, the hard mask  80  could include an ODL like the hard mask  72 , but not limited thereto. Next, another photo-etching process is conducted by first forming a patterned resist  84  on the SHB layer  82 , and as shown in  FIG. 12 , an etching process is conducted by using the patterned resist  84  as mask to remove part of the SHB layer  82 , part of the hard mask  80 , and part of the patterned material layer  78 . After removing the remaining SHB layer  82 , a plurality of sacrificial mandrels  86  is defined. It should be noted at this stage, the smallest pitch between any two adjacent patterned resist  84  is approximately 128 nm, and as each patterned resist  84  covers two patterned material layers  78  underneath, the smallest pitch between one of the material layer to another material layer under the patterned hard mask  80  after the etching process disclosed in  FIG. 12  would be approximately 128 nm. 
         [0022]    Next, as shown in  FIG. 13 , the remaining hard mask  80  is removed to expose the sacrificial mandrels  86 , in which the smallest pitch at this stage between any two adjacent sacrificial mandrels  86  is approximately 64 nm. A spacer formation is performed thereafter by first forming a cap layer (not shown) on the oxide layer  68  and sacrificial mandrels  86 , and then an etching back process is conducted to form a plurality of spacers  88  adjacent to the sidewalls of the sacrificial mandrels  86 . The smallest pitch at this stage between any two adjacent spacers  88  is approximately 32 nm. 
         [0023]    Next, as shown in  FIG. 14 , an etching process is conducted to remove all of the sacrificial mandrels  86  for exposing the oxide layer  68 , and another etching, preferably a single or multiple etching process, is carried out by using the spacer  88  as mask to remove part of the oxide layer  68 , part of the pad nitride layer  66 , and part of the pad oxide layer  64  to expose the surface of the substrate  62 . 
         [0024]    Next, as shown in  FIG. 15 , further etchings are conducted by using the spacer  88  as mask to remove part of the substrate  62  for forming a plurality of openings  90  and defining a plurality of fin-shaped structures. After removing the spacers, insulating material could be deposited into the openings  90  to form shallow trench isolations (STIs) depending on the demand of the product. This completes the fabrication of a semiconductor device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0025]    Overall, the present invention discloses an improved sidewall image transfer process, which preferably utilizes multiple photo-etching processes to transfer the desired pattern pitch to sacrificial mandrels, and then using the sacrificial mandrels to form spacers with even smaller pitches. Ultimately fin-shaped structures with desirable pitch could be obtained. 
         [0026]    Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.

Technology Category: h