Controlled pulse-etching with xenon difluoride

Author

Chu, Patrick B. ; Chen, Jeffrey T. ; Yeh, Richard ; Lin, Gisela ; Huang, Jeff C P ; Warneke, Elrett A. ; Pister, Kristofer S J

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng., California Univ., Los Angeles, CA, USA

Volume

1

fYear

1997

fDate

16-19 Jun 1997

Firstpage

665

Abstract

A gas-phase, room-temperature, plasmaless isotropic etching system has been used for bulk and thin film silicon etching. A computer controlled multi-chambered etcher is used to provide precisely metered pulses of xenon difluoride (XeF₂) gas to the etch chamber. Etch rates as high as 15 microns per minute have been observed. The etch appears to have infinite selectivity to many common thin films, including silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, photoresist, and aluminum. The etch rate, profile, and roughness are reported as a function of mask aperture, etch pressure, and duration

Keywords

computerised control; elemental semiconductors; etching; process control; silicon; surface topography; Si; XeF₂; XeF₂ gas; bulk Si etching; computer controlled multi-chambered etcher; controlled pulse-etching; duration; etch pressure; etch profile; etch rate; etch selectivity; mask aperture; plasmaless isotropic etching system; precisely metered pulses; roughness; thin film Si etching; Actuators; Aluminum; Costs; Crystals; Dry etching; Hafnium; Plasma temperature; Silicon; Valves; Xenon;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Solid State Sensors and Actuators, 1997. TRANSDUCERS '97 Chicago., 1997 International Conference on

Conference_Location

Chicago, IL

Print_ISBN

0-7803-3829-4

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/SENSOR.1997.613739

Filename

613739