A novel in situ monitoring technique for reactive ion etching using a surface micromachined sensor

This paper presents a novel technique for monitoring film thickness in reactive ion etching by incorporating a micromachined sensor. The prototype sensor correlates film thickness with the change in resonant frequency that occurs in a micromachined platform during etching. The platform is suspended over a drive electrode on the surface of the substrate and electrically excited into resonance. As material is etched from the platform, its resonant vibrational frequency shifts by an amount proportional to the amount of material etched, allowing etch rate to be inferred. As a proof-of-concept experiment, a platform made of DuPont 2611 polyimide has been fabricated. The sensor is driven into resonance electrostatically, and the shift in resonance is detected by monitoring the change in impedance between the drive electrode and platform as the drive frequency is swept. To enhance filtering of the sensor signal in the noisy plasma environment, the platform is designed so that the ratio of the plasma frequency to the fundamental mode of vibration is approximately 400:1. The prototype was etched in a Plasma Therm 700 series reactive ion etching (RIE) system in a CHF₃/O₂ plasma. Electrical contact was made with the sensor using a feedthrough attached to the vacuum line beneath the process chamber to facilitate in situ excitation and measurement. The sensor is shown to offer high resolution (approximately 1300 Hz/um), potentially permitting accurate in situ monitoring of etch rate and uniformity at a nominal cost