A method of processing a substrate that includes: flowing dioxygen (O.sub.2) and an adsorbate precursor into a plasma processing chamber that is configured to hold the substrate including an organic layer and a patterned etch mask; sustaining an oxygen-rich plasma while flowing the O.sub.2 and the adsorbate precursor, oxygen species from the O.sub.2 and the adsorbate precursor reacting under the oxygen-rich plasma to form an adsorbate; and exposing the substrate to the oxygen-rich plasma to form a recess in the organic layer, where the adsorbate forms a sidewall passivation layer in the recess.

A method of plasma processing includes delivering direct current voltage to a substrate holder including an upper side configured to support a substrate disposed within a plasma processing chamber. The upper side is divided into a plurality of zones by a plurality of conductors electrically isolated from each other. The method further includes pulsing the direct current voltage as first direct current pulses to a first conductor of the plurality of conductors using first pulse parameters, and pulsing the direct current voltage as second direct current pulses to a second conductor of the plurality of conductors using second pulse parameters that are different from the first pulse parameters. The direct current voltage is pulsed to the second conductor while pulsing the direct current voltage to the first conductor.

A method for performing an etch process on a substrate includes applying a bias signal and a source signal to an electrode of a plasma processing system. The bias signal and the source signal are pulsed RF signals that together define a repeated pulsed RF cycle, wherein each pulsed RF cycle sequentially includes a first state, a second state, a third state, and a fourth state. The power level of the bias signal in the first state is greater than in the third state, which is greater than in the second state, which is greater than in the fourth state. The power level of the source signal in the first state is greater than in the third state, which is greater than in the second state, which is greater than in the fourth state.

A method of etching a substrate is described. The method includes disposing a substrate having a surface exposing a first material and a second material in a processing space of a plasma processing system, and performing a modulated plasma etching process to selectively remove the first material at a rate greater than removing the second material. The modulated plasma etching process comprises a power modulation cycle having sequential power application steps that includes: applying a radio frequency (RF) signal to the plasma processing system at a first power level, applying the RF signal to the plasma processing system at a second power level, and applying the RF signal to the plasma processing system at a third power level. Thereafter, the power modulation cycle is repeated at least one more cycle, wherein each modulation cycle includes a modulation time period.

Provided is a voltage waveform control method comprising generating a voltage waveform of a non-sinusoidal wave comprising a pulse period having a positive bias voltage, a ramp period having a negative bias voltage, a first transition period changing from the pulse period to the ramp period, and a second transition period changing from the ramp period to the pulse period, adjusting a length of a negative voltage period having the negative bias voltage during a period of the voltage waveform to be at most 20% of a total length of the period, adjusting a slope of the ramp period, and outputting an adjusted voltage waveform based on the adjusted length of the negative voltage period and the adjusted slope of the ramp period, where the adjusting the length of the negative voltage period comprises adjusting a length of the first transition period and a length of the second transition period.

An etching method includes providing a substrate including an etching target layer including a silicon-containing layer, and a mask located on the etching target layer, comprising a metal, and having an opening defined by a side wall of the mask, supplying a process gas including a metal-containing gas, and etching, with plasma generated from the process gas, the etching target layer through the opening while forming a protective layer comprising a metal on a top of the mask and on the side wall of the mask.

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to a system used in a semiconductor device manufacturing process. More specifically, embodiments provided herein generally include apparatus and methods for synchronizing and controlling the delivery of an RF bias signal and a pulsed voltage waveform to one or more electrodes within a plasma processing chamber. The apparatus and methods disclosed herein can be useful to at least minimize or eliminate a microloading effect created while processing small dimension features that have differing densities across various regions of a substrate. The plasma processing methods and apparatus described herein are configured to improve the control of various characteristics of the generated plasma and control an ion energy distribution (IED) of the plasma generated ions that interact with a surface of a substrate during plasma processing. The ability to synchronize and control waveform characteristics of a voltage waveform bias established on a substrate during processing allows for an improved control of the generated plasma and process of forming, for example, high-aspect ratio features in the surface of the substrate by a reactive ion etching process. As a result, greater precision for plasma processing can be achieved, which is described herein in more detail.

A substrate processing method using a substrate processing apparatus including a process chamber having a reaction space for processing a substrate including an underlayer and a multilayer pattern provided on the underlayer and formed by alternately stacking at least a plurality of first insulating layers and a plurality of second insulating layers on one another, a substrate supporter, a gas ejector, and a plasma reactor, includes a pretreatment step for forming a passivation layer by supplying, onto the substrate through the gas ejector, a pretreatment gas, and an etching step for selectively and at least partially etching the plurality of second insulating layers in a lateral direction relative to the plurality of first insulating layers by supplying, onto the substrate through the gas ejector, an etchant.

Exemplary methods for conditioning a processing region of a semiconductor processing chamber may include forming conditioning plasma effluents of an oxygen-containing precursor in a semiconductor processing chamber. The methods may include contacting interior surfaces of the semiconductor processing chamber bordering a substrate processing region with the conditioning plasma effluents. The methods may also include treating the interior surfaces of the semiconductor processing chamber.

An etching method includes (a) providing a substrate having an etching target film and a mask on the etching target film, on a substrate support within a chamber; (b) etching the etching target film to form a recess under a condition that a pressure within the chamber is controlled to a first pressure, and a temperature of the substrate support is controlled to a first temperature; and (c) forming a metal-containing film on a portion of a side wall of the recess by using plasma generated from a processing gas containing a metal-containing gas, under a condition that the pressure within the chamber is controlled to a second pressure higher than the first pressure, and the temperature of the substrate support is controlled to a second temperature equal to or less than the first temperature.