The application provides a method for improving the
etching profile of a floating gate sidewall, a substrate is provided, and a stack is formed on the substrate, the stack is composed of a pad
oxide layer, a floating gate polysilicon layer, an inter-
electrode dielectric layer, a control gate polysilicon layer and a first
hard mask layer, which are stacked in order from bottom to top, then an opening is formed on the first
hard mask layer so that the control gate polysilicon layer below is exposed; a second
hard mask layer is formed to cover the first hard
mask layer and the exposed control gate polysilicon layer; an
etching gas with a carbon content greater than a preset value is introduced into an
etching machine, the ionized etching gas is a first
ion beam, and the second hard
mask layer is etched by using the first
ion beam; an etching gas with a carbon content greater than a preset value is introduced into an etching
machine, the ionized etching gas is a second
ion beam, and the second hard
mask layer is etched by using the second
ion beam until the control gate polysilicon layer is exposed. The application can improve the uniformity of the
critical dimension at the bottom of the etching profile to obtain a vertical etching profile, and the height of the sidewall is easy to control.