Semiconductor structure and forming method thereof
By forming a photoresist layer with positioning openings on the substrate and forming a target layer in these positioning openings, the problem of incompatibility of the target layer and the photoresist layer material is solved, and the flexibility and width of patterning of the target layer and material selection of semiconductor device are achieved.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202411717000.3
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Priority Date
- 2024-11-13
- Filing Date
- 2024-11-27
- Publication Date
- 2025-02-28
AI Technical Summary
The material of the target layer is incompatible with the material of the photoresist layer, resulting in the inability to form a patterned target layer.
By forming a photoresist layer with positioning openings on the substrate and forming a target layer in these positioning openings, the initial photoresist layer on the target layer is avoided, and the problem of material incompatibility is solved.
The pattern formation of the target layer is achieved, the problem of inability to pattern due to material incompatibility is solved, and the material selection flexibility and width of semiconductor devices are improved.
Smart Images
Figure CN119542122A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The embodiments of the present invention relate to the field of semiconductor technology, and in particular to a semiconductor structure and a method for forming the same. Background Art
[0002] With the rapid development of semiconductor technology, in order to make semiconductor devices have more excellent performance, more requirements have been put on the material properties of semiconductor devices. Some potential materials have outstanding physical and chemical properties. Therefore, these potential materials are more suitable for application in semiconductor devices. For example, organic materials have excellent elasticity, so the vibration amplitude of organic materials is much larger than that of inorganic materials such as polysilicon, and are more suitable as vibration membranes. In addition, organic materials have excellent moisture resistance and can also act as a protective layer.
[0003] However, since the material properties of the latent material and the photoresist are similar, the latent material and the photoresist are incompatible, thus making it difficult to integrate the latent material into the semiconductor manufacturing process. Summary of the invention
[0004] The embodiment of the present invention provides a semiconductor structure and a method for forming the same, which at least helps to solve the problem of being unable to form a patterned target layer due to the incompatibility between the material of the target layer and the material of the photoresist layer.
[0005] On the one hand, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for forming a semiconductor structure, including: providing a substrate; forming an initial photoresist layer on the substrate, patterning the initial photoresist layer to form a photoresist layer, wherein the photoresist layer has a plurality of positioning openings that penetrate the thickness of the photoresist layer; forming an initial target layer, wherein the initial target layer is located on a surface of the photoresist layer away from the substrate, and the initial target layer fills the positioning openings; removing the initial target layer that is higher than the top surface of the photoresist layer, and the initial target layer located at the positioning openings serves as the target layer; and removing the photoresist layer.
[0006] In some embodiments, the material of the target layer includes an organic material.
[0007] In some embodiments, after forming the initial target layer, the process further includes: planarizing the surface of the initial target layer away from the substrate; removing the initial target layer above the top surface of the photoresist layer includes: etching away a portion of the initial target layer until the top surface of the photoresist layer is exposed.
[0008] In some embodiments, the process of forming the initial target layer includes: a coating process, a hot pressing process, a rolling process, an electroplating process, or a deposition process.
[0009] In some embodiments, removing the initial target layer above the top surface of the photoresist layer includes: removing the initial target layer above the top surface of the photoresist layer using a dry etching process.
[0010] In some embodiments, removing the photoresist layer includes: removing the photoresist layer using a first etching process, wherein an etching rate of the photoresist layer is greater than an etching rate of the target layer in the first etching process.
[0011] In some embodiments, providing a substrate includes: providing an initial substrate; forming a functional layer on the initial substrate, wherein the initial substrate and the functional layer together constitute the substrate.
[0012] Another aspect of an embodiment of the present invention provides a semiconductor structure, which is formed by the method for forming a semiconductor structure described in the above embodiment. The semiconductor structure includes: a substrate; a patterned target layer, the target layer is located on the substrate, and the target layer exposes a portion of the substrate.
[0013] The beneficial effects of the embodiments of the present invention are as follows: the initial photoresist layer on the substrate is first etched to form a photoresist layer with a positioning opening, and a target layer is formed in the positioning opening of the photoresist layer. In this way, the formation of the initial photoresist layer on the target layer is avoided, and the technical problem that the initial photoresist layer cannot be patterned due to the incompatibility between the material of the target layer and the material of the initial photoresist layer is solved, thereby solving the problem that a graphic target layer cannot be formed due to the incompatibility between the material of the target layer and the material of the photoresist layer. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] One or more embodiments are exemplarily described by pictures in the corresponding drawings. These exemplified descriptions do not constitute a limitation on the embodiments. Unless otherwise specified, the pictures in the drawings do not constitute a scale limitation. In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the conventional technology, the drawings required for use in the embodiments are briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative work.
[0015] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a semiconductor structure corresponding to an initial substrate provided in a method for forming a semiconductor structure provided in an embodiment of the present invention;
[0016] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a semiconductor structure corresponding to a functional layer formed in a method for forming a semiconductor structure provided by an embodiment of the present invention;
[0017] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of a semiconductor structure corresponding to an initial photoresist formed in a method for forming a semiconductor structure provided by an embodiment of the present invention;
[0018] Figure 4A schematic diagram of a semiconductor structure corresponding to a photoresist layer formed in a method for forming a semiconductor structure provided by an embodiment of the present invention;
[0019] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of a semiconductor structure corresponding to an initial target layer formed in a method for forming a semiconductor structure provided by an embodiment of the present invention;
[0020] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of a semiconductor structure corresponding to a target layer formed in a method for forming a semiconductor structure provided by an embodiment of the present invention;
[0021] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of a semiconductor structure corresponding to the removal of a photoresist layer in a method for forming a semiconductor structure provided by an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0022] As is known from the background art, latent materials are difficult to integrate into semiconductor manufacturing processes.
[0023] Specifically, if the latent material is relatively close to the material of the photoresist, directly forming the photoresist on the latent material may cause the interface of the photoresist to merge with the interface of the film layer formed by the latent material, which results in the photoresist pattern formed after patterning the photoresist failing to meet the expected requirements, and thus making it difficult to ensure the subsequent precise patterning of the latent material. Therefore, it is difficult to implement the method of directly forming a photoresist on the latent material to pattern the latent material.
[0024] To solve the above problems, the present invention provides a method for forming a semiconductor structure, wherein an initial photoresist layer on a substrate is first etched to form a photoresist layer having a positioning opening, and a target layer is formed in the positioning opening of the photoresist layer. In this way, the formation of the initial photoresist layer on the target layer is avoided, and the technical problem that the initial photoresist layer cannot be accurately patterned due to the incompatibility of the target layer and the initial photoresist layer materials is solved, thereby solving the problem that a graphic target layer cannot be formed due to the incompatibility of the target layer material and the photoresist layer material.
[0025] In order to make the purpose, technical scheme and advantages of the present invention clearer, the embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that in the embodiments of the present invention, many technical details are provided to enable readers to better understand the present invention. However, even without these technical details and various changes and modifications based on the following embodiments, the technical scheme claimed in the present invention can be implemented.
[0026] Figures 1 to 7 A schematic diagram of a semiconductor structure corresponding to each step of a method for forming a semiconductor structure provided by an embodiment of the present invention.
[0027] refer to Figures 1 to 7 The method for forming a semiconductor structure provided by an embodiment of the present invention includes: providing a substrate 100; forming an initial photoresist layer 110 on the substrate 100, patterning the initial photoresist layer 110 to form a photoresist layer 111, wherein the photoresist layer 111 has a plurality of positioning openings 112 that penetrate the thickness of the photoresist layer 111; forming an initial target layer 130, wherein the initial target layer 130 is located on a surface of the photoresist layer 111 away from the substrate 100, and the initial target layer 130 fills the positioning openings 112; removing the initial target layer 130 that is higher than the top surface of the photoresist layer 111, and the initial target layer 130 located at the positioning openings 112 is used as the target layer 131; and removing the photoresist layer 111.
[0028] In this way, the initial photoresist layer on the substrate is first etched to form a photoresist layer with positioning openings, thereby achieving precise patterning of the initial photoresist layer and ensuring that the shape of the formed photoresist layer is more in line with the expected requirements. Then, the target layer is formed in the positioning openings of the photoresist layer, thereby avoiding the need to first form the initial target layer and then form the initial photoresist layer on the initial target layer. This solves the technical problem that the initial photoresist layer cannot be accurately patterned due to the incompatibility between the material of the target layer and the material of the photoresist layer, and further solves the problem that a graphic target layer cannot be formed due to the incompatibility between the material of the target layer and the material of the photoresist layer.
[0029] The method for forming a semiconductor structure provided by an embodiment of the invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0030] In some embodiments, providing substrate 100 includes: providing initial substrate 101, forming a functional layer on initial substrate 101, initial substrate 101 and the functional layer together constitute substrate 100. That is, substrate 100 may be a single-layer substrate or a substrate with a functional layer formed thereon.
[0031] refer to Figure 1 to Figure 2 In some embodiments, providing a substrate 100 includes: providing an initial substrate 101, forming a functional layer on the initial substrate 101, the functional layer including a first functional layer 102 and a second functional layer 103 stacked in sequence in a direction away from the initial substrate 101.
[0032] It should be noted that, in other embodiments, the functional layer may also include a first functional layer, a second functional layer, and a third functional layer stacked in sequence in a direction away from the initial substrate 101. The embodiment of the present invention does not limit the number of functional layers on the initial substrate 101. In practical applications, a corresponding number of functional layers can be set according to the requirements of the semiconductor device.
[0033] In some embodiments, the initial substrate 101 is a silicon substrate. In other embodiments, the material of the initial substrate 101 may also be a material that can be directly used in the manufacturing process to produce semiconductor devices, for example, the material of the initial substrate 101 may be at least one of silicon-on-insulator (SOI), germanium, silicon carbide, gallium arsenide, or sapphire.
[0034] In some embodiments, the functional layer can be any type of piezoelectric material. In some examples, the material of the functional layer can include at least one of lead zirconate titanate piezoelectric ceramics, aluminum nitride, aluminum scandium nitride, potassium sodium niobate, barium titanate, or zinc oxide.
[0035] refer to Figure 3 and Figure 4 , forming an initial photoresist layer 110 on the substrate 100. In some examples, the step of forming the initial photoresist layer 110 may include: forming the initial photoresist layer by spin coating, exposing the initial photoresist layer by using a photomask so that the initial photoresist layer in the target area is dissolved in a developer and removed, and the remaining initial photoresist layer outside the target area is used as the photoresist layer 111, so that the photoresist layer 111 having the positioning opening 112 can be formed, and it should be noted that the positioning opening 112 corresponds to the target layer 131 formed subsequently.
[0036] refer to Figure 5 , forming an initial target layer 130, which is located on the surface of the photoresist layer 111 away from the substrate 100, and fills the positioning opening 112. It should be noted that the initial target layer 130 should be thick enough to completely bury the photoresist layer 110.
[0037] In some embodiments, the initial target layer 130 may be a dry film, a liquid, a paste, or any other type of film layer.
[0038] In some embodiments, the process of forming the initial target layer 130 includes: a coating process, a hot pressing process, a rolling process, an electroplating process, or a deposition process.
[0039] In some embodiments, the material of the initial target layer 130 is an organic material.
[0040] It should be noted that, since the photoresist layer 111 has the positioning opening 112, in some embodiments, after the initial target layer 130 is formed, the top surface of the initial target layer 130 away from the substrate 100 has different heights, that is, the top surface of the initial target layer 130 away from the substrate 100 is not a flat surface. In order to prevent the uneven surface of the initial target layer 130 from having a negative impact on the morphology of the subsequently formed target layer 131, therefore, in some embodiments, after the initial target layer 130 is formed, the process further includes: flattening the surface of the initial target layer 130 away from the substrate 100, so that the surface of the initial target layer 130 away from the substrate 100 is a smooth surface.
[0041] In some embodiments, a chemical mechanical polishing process may be used to planarize the surface of the initial target layer 130 away from the substrate 100 .
[0042] In some embodiments, reference Figure 5 and Figure 6 , removing the initial target layer 130 above the top surface of the photoresist layer 111 includes: etching and removing a portion of the initial target layer 130 until the top surface of the photoresist layer 111 is exposed. That is, the initial target layer 130 is etched with the photoresist layer 111 as an etching stop layer to remove the initial target layer 130 located on the top surface of the photoresist layer 111 away from the substrate 100, and the initial target layer 130 located in the positioning opening 112 is retained as the target layer 131. In this way, a patterned target layer 131 can be formed, and in the process of forming the patterned target layer 131, the photoresist layer 111 with the positioning opening 112 is cleverly formed first, and then the positioning opening 112 is used to form the target layer 131 in a specific area of the substrate 100, which solves the problem that the patterning process of the initial target layer 130 cannot be performed due to the close material properties of the initial target layer 130 and the photoresist layer 111, so that the material selection of the semiconductor device can be more flexible and wider.
[0043] In some embodiments, removing the initial target layer 130 above the top surface of the photoresist layer 111 includes: using a dry etching process to remove the initial target layer 130 above the top surface of the photoresist layer 111. It is understood that in other embodiments, a wet etching process may also be used to remove the initial target layer 130 above the top surface of the photoresist layer 111.
[0044] Continue to refer Figure 5 and Figure 6 , after removing the initial target layer 130 above the top surface of the photoresist layer 111, the remaining initial target layer 130 located at the positioning opening 112 is used as the target layer 131; Figure 7 , remove the photoresist layer 111.
[0045] In some embodiments, the material of the target layer 131 includes an organic material. Due to its excellent elasticity, the vibration amplitude of the organic material is much larger than that of inorganic materials such as polysilicon, and it is more suitable for use as a vibration membrane. In addition, the organic material has excellent moisture resistance and can serve as a protective layer. The method for forming a semiconductor structure provided in an embodiment of the present invention can form a patterned target layer 131 composed of an organic material. Using organic materials to form a semiconductor device is conducive to improving the performance of the semiconductor device.
[0046] In some embodiments, removing the photoresist layer 111 includes: removing the photoresist layer 111 using a first etching process, wherein the etching rate of the photoresist layer 111 is greater than the etching rate of the target layer 131 under the first etching process. By removing the photoresist layer 111 using the first etching process having a greater etching rate for the photoresist layer 111, damage to the target layer 131 is avoided.
[0047] In some embodiments, the first etching process includes a wet etching process.
[0048] In some embodiments, the material of the target layer is PDMS (Polydimethylsiloxane), and the etching liquid of the first etching process includes acetone. The reason for this is that most photoresist layers are soluble in acetone, but PDMS is insoluble in propanol.
[0049] In the method for forming a semiconductor structure provided in the above embodiment, a photoresist layer 111 having a positioning opening 112 is first formed, and then a target layer 131 is formed in the positioning opening 112 of the photoresist layer 111. In this way, the problem of being unable to form a patterned target layer 131 due to the incompatibility between the material of the target layer 131 and the material of the photoresist layer 111 is solved, and the pattern is not defined by a conventional photolithography process, so that the material selection of the semiconductor device can be more flexible and wider. In addition, after the target layer 131 is formed in the positioning opening 112, the photoresist layer 111 is selectively removed by using a solvent with a higher etching rate for the photoresist layer 111, which is conducive to avoiding damage to the target layer 131 caused by the process of removing the photoresist layer 111.
[0050] Another aspect of an embodiment of the present invention provides a semiconductor structure, which is formed by the method for forming the semiconductor structure described in the above embodiment. It should be noted that the parts that are the same as or corresponding to the above embodiment can refer to the above embodiment and will not be described in detail below.
[0051] refer to Figure 7 The semiconductor structure includes: a substrate 100; a patterned target layer 131, the target layer 131 is located on the substrate 100, and the target layer 131 exposes a portion of the substrate 100.
[0052] In some embodiments, the substrate 100 includes: an initial substrate 101 and a functional layer located on the initial substrate 101 .
[0053] In some embodiments, the functional layer includes a first functional layer 102 and a second functional layer 103 which are sequentially stacked in a direction away from the initial substrate 101 .
[0054] It should be noted that, in other embodiments, the functional layer may also include a first functional layer, a second functional layer, and a third functional layer stacked in sequence in a direction away from the initial substrate 101. The embodiment of the present invention does not limit the number of functional layers on the initial substrate 101. In practical applications, a corresponding number of functional layers can be set according to the requirements of the semiconductor device.
[0055] In some embodiments, the initial substrate 101 is a silicon substrate. In other embodiments, the material of the initial substrate 101 may also be a material that can be directly used in the manufacturing process to produce semiconductor devices, for example, the material of the initial substrate 101 may be at least one of silicon, germanium, silicon carbide, gallium arsenide, or sapphire on an insulating substrate.
[0056] In some embodiments, the material of the target layer 131 may be polyparaxylene or other polymers.
[0057] The semiconductor structure provided by the present invention is formed by the method for forming the semiconductor structure provided by the above-mentioned embodiment of the present invention. In the semiconductor structure provided by the present invention, the target layer can be a material with excellent properties close to those of the photoresist layer. Therefore, it is possible to form a semiconductor structure using materials with excellent properties, and then form a corresponding semiconductor device using the semiconductor structure, which is beneficial to improving the performance of the semiconductor device.
[0058] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the above embodiments are specific examples of the present invention, and in practical applications, various changes may be made to the embodiments in form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Any person skilled in the art may make their own changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
Claims
1. A method for forming a semiconductor structure, characterized in that: include: providing a substrate; Forming an initial photoresist layer on the substrate, and patterning the initial photoresist layer to form a photoresist layer, wherein the photoresist layer has a plurality of positioning openings penetrating the thickness of the photoresist layer; forming an initial target layer, wherein the initial target layer is located on a surface of the photoresist layer away from the substrate, and the initial target layer fills the positioning opening; removing the initial target layer above the top surface of the photoresist layer, and using the initial target layer located at the positioning opening as the target layer; The photoresist layer is removed.
2. The method for forming a semiconductor structure according to claim 1, wherein: The material of the target layer includes an organic material.
3. The method for forming a semiconductor structure according to claim 1, wherein: After forming the initial target layer, the method further includes: performing a planarization process on a surface of the initial target layer away from the substrate; The removing of the initial target layer higher than the top surface of the photoresist layer comprises: etching and removing a portion of the initial target layer by thickness until the top surface of the photoresist layer is exposed.
4. The method for forming a semiconductor structure according to claim 1 or 3, characterized in that: The process of forming the initial target layer includes: a coating process, a hot pressing process, a rolling process, an electroplating process or a deposition process.
5. The method for forming a semiconductor structure according to claim 1 or 3, characterized in that: The removing of the initial target layer higher than the top surface of the photoresist layer comprises: removing the initial target layer higher than the top surface of the photoresist layer by using a dry etching process.
6. The method for forming a semiconductor structure according to claim 1, wherein: The removing of the photoresist layer comprises: removing the photoresist layer by adopting a first etching process, wherein an etching rate of the photoresist layer is greater than an etching rate of the target layer under the first etching process.
7. The method for forming a semiconductor structure according to claim 1, wherein: Providing the substrate includes: providing an initial substrate, forming a functional layer on the initial substrate, and the initial substrate and the functional layer constitute the substrate.
8. A semiconductor structure, characterized in that: The semiconductor structure is formed by the method for forming a semiconductor structure according to any one of claims 1 to 7, and the semiconductor structure comprises: substrate; A patterned target layer is located on the substrate, and the target layer exposes a portion of the substrate.