A cleaning composition for removing plasma etching residue and/or ashing residue formed above a semiconductor substrate is provided that includes (component a) water, (component b) a hydroxylamine and/or a salt thereof, (component c) a basic organic compound, and (component d) an organic acid and has a pH of 7 to 9. There are also provided a cleaning process and a process for producing semiconductor device employing the cleaning composition.

Embodiments relate to a method for fabricating a semiconductor structure, a semiconductor structure, and a peripheral circuit. The method for fabricating a semiconductor structure includes: providing a substrate; forming a gate initial structure and a residue on the substrate; and removing the residue by means of a first cleaning liquid. The first cleaning liquid is capable of inhibiting the residue from undergoing a hydrolysis reaction.

A method of fabricating a semiconductor structure includes: forming a conductive layer on a first insulating layer; etching a portion of the conductive layer to expose a portion of the first insulating layer; deforming a surface of the portion of the first insulating layer to form a rough surface of the first insulating layer; and removing a residue of the conductive layer on the rough surface of the first insulating layer.

This disclosure relates to a cleaning composition that contains 1) HF; 2) substituted or unsubstituted boric acid; 3) ammonium sulfate; 4) at least one metal corrosion inhibitor; 5) water; and 6) optionally, at least one pH adjusting agent, the pH adjusting agent being a base free of a metal ion. This disclosure also relates to a method of using the above composition for cleaning a semiconductor substrate.

Methods and chemical solvents used for cleaning residues on metal contacts during a semiconductor device packaging process are disclosed. A chemical solvent for cleaning a residue formed on a metal contact may comprise a reactive inorganic component and a reactive organic component. The method may comprise spraying a semiconductor device with a chemical solvent at a first pressure, and spraying the semiconductor device with the chemical solvent at a second pressure less than the first pressure.

The present disclosure provides a method for forming patterns in a semiconductor device. The method includes providing a substrate and a patterning-target layer over the substrate; patterning the patterning-target layer to form a main pattern; forming a middle layer over the patterning-target layer and a hard mask layer over the middle layer; patterning the hard mask layer to form a first cut pattern; patterning the hard mask layer to form a second cut pattern, a combined cut pattern being formed in the hard mask layer as a union of the first cut pattern and the second cut pattern; transferring the combined cut pattern to the middle layer; etching the patterning-target layer using the middle layer as an etching mask to form a final pattern in the patterning-target layer. In some embodiments, the final pattern includes the main pattern subtracting an intersection portion between main pattern and the combined cut pattern.

A method of fabricating a semiconductor device is provided. The method includes forming a first metal layer over a semiconductor substrate, and forming a first layer over the first metal layer. The first layer and first metal layer are etched to expose a sidewall of the first layer and a sidewall of the first metal layer, wherein the etching disburses a portion of the first metal layer to create an accumulation of material on at least one of the sidewall of the first layer or the sidewall of the first metal layer. At least some of the accumulation is etched away using an etchant comprising fluorine.

A method of cleaning a surface of a substrate uses alcohol and water treatments. The method may include applying an alcohol treatment on a surface of the substrate with the alcohol treatment configured to provide surface reduction and applying a water treatment to the surface of the substrate with the water treatment configured to enhance selectivity of at least a portion of the surface for a subsequent barrier layer process by removing alcohol from the at least a portion of the surface. The water treatment may be performed simultaneously with the alcohol treatment or performed after the alcohol treatment. The water treatment may include vaporized water or water injected into a plasma to produce hydrogen or oxygen radicals.

An embodiment disclosed herein includes a method of dicing a wafer comprising a plurality of integrated circuits. In an embodiment, the method comprises forming a mask above the semiconductor wafer, and patterning the mask and the semiconductor wafer with a first laser process. The method may further comprise patterning the mask and the semiconductor wafer with a second laser process, where the second laser process is different than the first laser process. In an embodiment, the method may further comprise etching the semiconductor wafer with a plasma etching process to singulate the integrated circuits.

A method for producing a semiconductor element and a chemical solution to be used in the method for producing a semiconductor element, the method including dry-etching or chemically-mechanically polishing a ruthenium-containing layer located as an uppermost layer of a substrate; and bringing a surface of the substrate into contact with a chemical solution thereby satisfactorily cleaning and removing a ruthenium residue formed on the surface of the substrate; and a chemical solution to be suitably used in the method for producing a semiconductor element.