| abstract |
A layer of nitrogen-free oxide material is formed as a hard mask to minimize resist poisoning during patterning of low K dielectric layers. In one embodiment, the oxide hard mask material has the formula SiwOx, where w and x represent the atomic percentage of silicon and oxygen, respectively, in the material and where w is about 1 and x is about 2, and the density of nitrogen in the silicon oxide material of the hard mask is less than or equal to about 1x1016 atoms/cm3. |