Diagnostics of Low-Pressure Oxygen RF Plasmas and the Mechanism for Polymer Etching: A Comparison of Reactive Sputter Etching and Magnetron Sputter Etching

We have compared low-pressure oxygen RF plasmas and the etching of photoresist in a reactive sputter etch reactor and in a magnetron etch reactor using Langmuir probe, optical emission actinometry, and mass spectrometry measurements. The Langmuir probe data allow the determination of the plasma ion density and electron temperature, and thus the ion flux onto the substrate. The optical data yield information on the presence of O atoms and O2+ ions. Stable reactant and product species are monitored with a mass spectrometer. The main difference between the two reactors is that in magnetron sputter etching (MSE), the ion flux to the substrate is about an order of magnitude higher, under comparable plasma conditions, than in reactive sputter etching (RSE). This accounts for the higher etch rate in MSE. However, the etch yield per ion is higher in RSE because of the higher ion energy. Etch rates correlate neither with the ion flux to the substrate nor with the density of O atoms in the plasma, but change in parallel with the consumption of reactant gas. We conclude that in etching a polymer in a low-pressure oxygen plasma, the main neutral reactant species are O2 molecules, and an important role of the ions is to remove reaction products from the substrate surface.     

Two-dimensional direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) of reactiveneutral and ion flow in a high density plasma reactor

We present a two dimensional direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) study of the rarefied reactive flow of neutrals and ions in a low pressure inductively coupled plasma reactor. The spatially-dependent rate coefficients of electron impact reactions and the electrostatic field were obtained from a fluid plasma simulation. Neutral and ion etching of polysilicon with chlorine gas was studied with emphasis on the reaction uniformity along the wafer. Substantial gradients in total gas density were observed across the reactor invalidating the commonly made assumption of constant gas density. The flow was nonequilibrium with differences in the species translational temperatures, and 100 K temperature jumps near the walls. When etching was limited by ions the etch rate was highest at the wafer center. When etching was limited by neutrals, the etch rate was highest at the wafer edge. In such case, the etch uniformity changed significantly depending on the reactivity of the ring surrounding the wafer. The ion angular distribution was several degrees off normal and it was different at the wafer edge compared to the rest of the wafer     

Modification of plasma-etched profiles by sputtering

Two-dimensional etch profiles are modeled for plasma etching. The etch rate dependence on the angle of incidence of the bombarding ions on the etched surface has a sputtering-type yield. The etch profile is advanced in time by an evolution equation for an etch rate proportional to the modified ion energy flux. Approximate analytical expressions for the etch rates are derived as a product of the etch rates in the absence of the sputtering-type yield and a weighting factor that depends on the angle the ion drift velocity makes with the normal to the wafer surface. The weighting factor is determined from experimental measurements of the angular dependence of ion beam etching by sputtering. These etch rates are valid when the ratio of the ion drift speed to the ion thermal speed is large compared to one. The etching is modeled in the ion flux-limited regime for simplicity. The modifications of the shape of etch profiles of a long rectangular trench and a waveguide structure or strip are treated     

Two-dimensional simulation of polysilicon etching with chlorine ina high density plasma reactor

A two-dimensional fluid simulation of polysilicon etching with chlorine in an inductively-coupled high density plasma source is presented. A modular approach was used to couple in a self-consistent manner the disparate time scales of plasma and neutral species transport. This way, complex plasma chemical reactions (involving electrons, ions and neutrals) as well as surface chemistry can be included in the simulation, The power deposited into the plasma was calculated by an electromagnetics module which solves Maxwell's equations. The power deposition was used in the electron energy module to find the electron temperature and the rate coefficients of electron-impact reactions. These were in turn used as source terms in separate neutral and charged species transport modules. By iterating among the modules, a self-consistent solution was obtained. Quantities of interest, such as power deposition, species density and flux, and etch rate and uniformity were thus calculated, As power deposition was increased, the electron density increased linearly, the plasma became less electronegative, the degree of gas dissociation increased, and the plasma potential remained constant. The radial uniformity of the Cl atom flux was better than that of the ion flux. The reactivity of the wafer as compared to that of the surrounding electrode surface significantly affected the etch uniformity, despite the low pressure of 10 mtorr     

Nanometer-scale etching of CoFeB thin films using pulse-modulated high density plasma

Pulse-modulated inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching of nanometer-scale patterned CoFeB thin films was performed in CH₄/O₂/Ar gas mixture. As the pulse on-off duty ratio decreased, the etch selectivity of CoFeB/TiN slightly increased and the etch profiles were improved. Moreover, the etch selectivity of the CoFeB films and the etch profiles were improved with the increase in the pulse frequency of the plasma. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed that during the pulse-modulated etching in the CH₄/O₂/Ar gas mixture, some polymeric layers were formed on the CoFeB films, which helped prevent the lateral etching and increased the etch selectivity. Consequently, nanometer-scale etching of CoFeB thin films patterned with TiN hard masks could be achieved using pulsed-modulated plasma in CH₄/O₂/Ar gas mixture.     

Model for ion-initiated trench etching

We model the plasma etching of trenches by Langmuir kinetics for neutral molecules and bombarding ions. The parallel combination of an isotropic etch rate for the neutrals and an anisotropic etch rate for the ions gives an effective etch rate. The ion etch rate is proportional to the normal surface component of the ion energy flux. An approximate analytical expression for the composite etch rate offers a new approach to the computation of etch profiles for these mixed systems. Etch profiles are displayed for three cases: the nearly ion flux-limited regime, an intermediate case, and the nearly neutral-flux limited regime for the trench bottom. The numerical calculation of the etch profiles follows from the integration of three characteristic strip equations which are nonlinear first-order ordinary differential equations (ODE's)     

Dry etching of ITO by magnetic pole enhanced inductively coupled plasma for display and biosensing devices

The dry etching of indium tin oxide (ITO) layers deposited on glass substrates was investigated in a high density inductively coupled plasma (ICP) source. This innovative low pressure plasma source uses a magnetic core in order to concentrate the electromagnetic energy on the plasma and thus provides for higher plasma density and better uniformity. Different gas mixtures were tested containing mainly hydrogen, argon and methane. In Ar/H₂ mixtures and at constant bias voltage (−100 V), the etch rate shows a linear dependence with input power varying the same way as the ion density, which confirms the hypothesis that the etching process is mainly physical. In CH₄/H₂ mixtures, the etch rate goes through a maximum for 10% CH₄ indicating a participation of the radicals to the etching process. However, the etch rate remains quite low with this type of gas mixture (around 10 nm/min) because the etching mechanism appears to be competing with a deposition process. With CH₄/Ar mixtures, a similar feature appeared but the etch rate was much higher, reaching 130 nm/min at 10% of CH₄ in Ar. The increase in etch rate with the addition of a small quantity of methane indicates that the physical etching process is enhanced by a chemical mechanism. The etching process was monitored by optical emission spectroscopy that appeared to be a valuable tool for endpoint detection.     

Parameter space map of an electron cyclotron resonance plasma in acompact chamber

Ion current density measurements were made in an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma reactor for both argon and oxygen discharges. Spatial changes in the ion current density were also recorded across the reactor diameter for changes in pressure and power. These measurements revealed a minimum in the ion current density on the reactor axis. This observation has been explained as a consequence of the shape of the ECR region, which, in turn, is dependent on the mode of coupling. Current density measurements were made as a function of reactor pressure and microwave power for two different axial locations in the system. A Langmuir probe was also used at these two locations to measure the electron temperature as a function of these process conditions. It was observed that the ion current density and/or plasma density measured downstream from the ECR zone, increased significantly in the low-pressure/high-microwave power region. Results from this region of the operating parameter space have not previously been reported. Further existing models do not predict this observed increase in plasma density or ion current density. It has been proposed that a rarefication of the gas in the ECR region, as a result of gas heating, has acted to increase the outward diffusion of electrons from the ECR zone and, thus, has increased the ambipolar diffusion of ions to the downstream location. This proposal has been partially validated by experimental results in which the ion energy was measured as a function of reactor pressure and gas flow rate. The shape of the oxygen parameter space map differs significantly from that for Ar. The principal reasons for these changes are a number of different inelastic electron scattering mechanisms which effect the transport electrons out of the ECR zone and through ambipolar diffusion also the transport of ions. The second factor is the production of negative ionic species which varies with reactor pressure and, thus, T_e     

A Kinetic Model for Plasma Etching Silicon in a SF6/O2 RF Discharge

Time-dependent Boltzmann electron distribution calculations have been made at constant power and pressure in a SF6/O2 plasma with a varying oxygen mole fraction. The results show that as the oxygen fraction increases in a SF6/O2 plasma, the number of high-energy electrons in the tail of the electron distribution and the mean electron energy both increase significantly while the plasma is kept at the same reduced electric field E/N. Rate coefficients have been computed for the electron kinetic processes of these plasmas and merged within a kinetic equilibrium model for the plasma etch process, including neutral gas-phase chemistry, ion chemistry, and surface reactions. Model simulations show good agreement with experimental results for SF6/O2 etching of polysilicon and demonstrate that the anisotropic character of dilute SF6 plasma etching is related to the shift in the electron distribution with increasing oxygen fraction. Competition between F and O species for adsorption to silicon etching sites is also shown to be a factor in determining etch rates, but this competition is not significant until very large (> 80 percent) oxygen concentrations are present. Ionization rates and ion transport to the surface are shown to be much more important. The model simulations provide a rationale for explaining the very high etch rates observed at low-SF6 partial pressures and the increasing anisotropic etch character with greater oxygen dilution of SF6.     

Etching and oxidation of InAs in planar inductively coupled plasma

The surface of InAs (1 1 1)A was investigated under plasmachemical etching in the gas mixture CH₄/H₂/Ar. Etching was performed using the RF (13.56 MHz) and ICP plasma with the power 30–150 and 50–300 W, respectively; gas pressure in the reactor was 3–10 mTorr. It was demonstrated that the composition of the subsurface layer less than 5 nm thick changes during plasmachemical etching.A method of deep etching of InAs involving ICP plasma and hydrocarbon based chemistry providing the conservation of the surface relief is proposed. Optimal conditions and the composition of the gas phase for plasmachemical etching ensuring acceptable etch rates were selected.     

Influence of processing parameters on atmospheric pressure plasma etching of polyamide 6 films

This study is designed to systematically investigate how various factors, such as treatment duration, output power, oxygen gas flux, jet to substrate distance, and moisture regain, influence atmospheric pressure plasma etching rate of polyamide 6 (PA 6) films. The etching rate increased as the output power, oxygen gas flux, and moisture regain increased. As the treatment time increased, the etching rate increased first and then decreased. When the substrate was too close or too far from the nozzle, the etching rate was almost not measurable. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) show an increased surface roughness after the plasma treatment. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) shows a decreased carbon content and an increased oxygen content after the plasma treatment. T-peel strength shows an improved bonding strength between the PA 6 films and an adhesive tape after the plasma treatment.     

Comparison of plasma chemistries for the dry etching of bulk single-crystal zinc-oxide and rf-sputtered indium-zinc-oxide films

The dry etching characteristics of bulk, single-crystal zinc-oxide (ZnO) and rf-sputtered indium-zinc-oxide (IZO) films have been investigated using an inductively coupled high-density plasma with different plasma chemistries. The introduction of interhalogens such as ICl, IBr, BI₃, and BBr₃ to the Ar plasma produced no enhancement of the ZnO and IZO etch rates with respect to physical sputtering in a pure argon atmosphere under the same experimental conditions. In these plasma chemistries, the etch rate of both materials increased with source power and ion energy, indicating that ion bombardment plays an important role in enhancing desorption of etch products. Except in Ar/CH₄/H₂ discharges, the ZnO etch rate was very similar to that of IZO, which indicates that zinc and indium atoms are driven by a similar plasma etching dynamic. CH₄/H₂-containing plasmas produced higher etch rates for IZO than for ZnO due to the preferential desorption of the group III etch products. Application of the CH₄/H₂/Ar plasma to the etching of deep features in bulk, single-crystal ZnO produced highly anisotropic profiles although some trenches were observed near the sidewalls.     

Dry etching characteristics of GaN for blue/green light-emitting diode fabrication

The etch rates, surface morphology and sidewall profiles of features formed in GaN/InGaN/AlGaN multiple quantum well light-emitting diodes by Cl₂-based dry etching are reported. The chlorine provides an enhancement in etch rate of over a factor of 40 relative to the physical etching provided by Ar and the etching is reactant-limited until chlorine gas flow rates of at least 50 standard cubic centimeters per minute. Mesa sidewall profile angle control is possible using a combination of Cl₂/Ar plasma chemistry and SiO₂ mask. N-face GaN is found to etch faster than Ga-face surfaces under the same conditions. Patterning of the sapphire substrate for improved light extraction is also possible using the same plasma chemistry.     

BEHAVIOR OF Ar PLASMA FORMED IN A HIGH DENSITY PLASMA SOURCE-AN ECR REACTOR

In order to develop the ultra-large scale integration(ULSI), low pressure and high density plasma apparatus are required for etching and deposit of thin films. To understand critical parameters such as the pressure, temperature, electrostatic potential and energy distribution of ions impacting on the wafer, it is necessary to understand how these parameters are influenced by the power input and neutral gas pressure. In the present work, a 2-D hybrid electron fluid-particle ion model has been developed to simulate one of the high density plasma sources-an Electron Cyclotron Resonance (ECR) plasma system with various pressures and power inputs in a non-uniform magnetic field. By means of numerical simulation, the energy distributions of argon ion impacting on the wafer are obtained and the plasma density, electron temperature and plasma electrostatic potential are plotted in 3-D. It is concluded that the plasma density depends mainly on both the power input and neutral gas pressure. However, the plasma potential and electron temperature can hardly be affected by the power input, they seem to be primarily dependent on the neutral gas pressure. The comparison shows that the simulation results are qualitatively in good agreement with the experiment measurements.     

Deep SiC etching with RIE

SiC is currently an important topic in power devices. This new technology leads to lower power losses, faster switching, and higher working temperature. The design of SiC power devices requires the integration of edge termination techniques to obtain a high blocking voltage. The mesa structure approach is one well-established method. It could be used alone or in combination with a Junction Termination Extension (JTE). The mesa consists of a structure that removes material around the pn-junction. Due to the strong Si–C bonds, conventional chemical–wet etching solutions are inefficient on SiC, so plasma methods are required to etch SiC.The presented work is based on the use of an RIE reactor with an SF₆/ O₂ plasma. Its geometry structure and parameters were optimized. An etch rate of 0.35 μm/min was obtained without any trenching phenomenon. Trenches deeper than 10 μm deep were realized with a nickel etching mask that shows a high selectivity. AFM analysis revealed an etched surface as smooth as the initial one.     

SHI induced nano track polymer filters and characterization

Swift heavy ion irradiation produces damage in polymers in the form of latent tracks. Latent tracks can be enlarged by etching it in a suitable etchant and thus nuclear track etch membrane can be formed for gas permeation / purification in particular for hydrogen where the molecular size is very small. By applying suitable and controlled etching conditions well defined tracks can be formed for specific applications of the membranes. After etching gas permeation method is used for characterizing the tracks. In the present work polycarbonate (PC) of various thickness were irradiated with energetic ion beam at Inter University Accelerator Centre (IUAC), New Delhi. Nuclear tracks were modified by etching the PC in 6N NaOH at 60 (±1) °C from both sides for different times to produce track etch membranes. At critical etch time the etched pits from both the sides meet a rapid increase in gas permeation was observed. Permeability of hydrogen and carbon dioxide has been measured in samples etched for different times. The latent tracks produced by SHI irradiation in the track etch membranes show enhancement of free volume of the polymer. Nano filters are separation devices for the mixture of gases, different ions in the solution and isotopes and isobars separations. The polymer thin films with controlled porosity finding it self as best choice. However, the permeability and selectivity of these polymer based membrane filters are very important at the nano scale separation. The Swift Heavy Ion (SHI) induced nuclear track etched polymeric films with controlled etching have been attempted and characterized as nano scale filters.      

On the mechanism of explosive etching of PMDA-ODA film in nonequilibrium oxygen plasmas

The explosive acceleration of PMDA-ODA film etching in the oxygen plasma generated by a high-frequency inductive discharge at a low pressure (P=0.2 Pa) is described. The peak in the etch rate is shown to depend on the energy of bombarding ions and film thickness. The explosive kinetics of PMDA-ODA film etching is controlled by the cyclodehydration reaction transforming it into a polyimide film. The imidization is accelerated by the exothermic effect of oxidation reactions that take place on the film surface. As a result, the two reactions form a positive feedback loop, which promotes the ion-induced chain process of PMDA-ODA film etching and imidization.     

Proton tracks and the formation of pores in poly[diethylene glycol bis-(allyl carbonate)

Modern dosimetry needs efficient detectors for registering light ions, especially light ions having energies of up to 10 MeV/amu. That is why this research pays attention to the development of materials for such a task. In this work, a CR-39 detector, which is the most efficient detector, was used. It was irradiated with low-energy protons. Using sensitive electrolytic etching and electron scanning microscopy, a complete analysis was carried out of the process of the formation of a pore starting from its opening to the final stage of its formation. The process of sequential track breakthroughs was observed. The data obtained on the shape of the pore and the parameters of its formation allow simulation of the process of etching. The etch rates and sensitivity of etching are determined. The influence of energy losses on the geometry of the pore is considered.     

The statistical process of pore growth in multi pore foils

Using the electrolytical etching method the breakthrough-times (i.e. the time when the two etched cones from both sides of the detector contact) and the resulting track etching rates v_t of heavy ion tracks in 8 μm polycarbonate Makrofol KG have been measured. The samples were irradiated at the GSI, Darmstadt (Germany) with gold ions and different fluences at a specific energy of 11.6 MeV/u. All foils were etched in 6 n NaOH at room temperature. Fluctuations of breakthrough-times of single pore foils were analysed. Also the breakthrough-time of multi-pore-foils were measured. The dependence of the mean breakthrough-time on the ion fluence is dicussed. This dependence will be explained by the fluctuations of the breakthrough-time of the pores.     

非对称磁镜场电子回旋共振氧等离子体刻蚀化学气相沉积金刚石膜

分别应用郎缪尔双探针和离子灵敏探针对非对称磁镜场电子回旋共振氧等离子体的电子参数、空间分布和离子参数进行了测量,分析了气压对等离子体参数及空间分布的影响。利用该等离子体在优化的气压条件下对化学气相沉积金刚石膜进行了刻蚀,并研究了刻蚀机理。结果表明:电子温度为5~10 eV,离子温度为1 eV左右,而等离子体数密度在1010cm-3数量级。随气压的升高,电子和离子温度降低,而电子数密度先增大后减小。在低气压下等离子体数密度空间分布更均匀,优化的刻蚀气压为0.1 Pa。刻蚀过程中,离子的回旋运动特性得到了加强,有利于平行于金刚石膜表面的刻蚀,有效地保护了金刚石膜的晶界和缺陷。