Ion beam assisted etching of a fluorinated polyimide in order to insert it in an electro-optical system

Etching of a fluorinated polyimide (6FDA-ODA) was realized by the IBAE (Ion Beam Assisted Etching) technique which uses an inert ion beam (Ar+ for example) to carry a reactive flux (oxygen for example) towards the target.This ion beam reactive etching enables us to obtain etching rates of about 60 nm/min by maintaining a pressure of about 10−4 Torr in the irradiation chamber.