Chemical downstream etching of tungsten

Abstract

The downstream etching of tungsten and tungsten oxide has been investigated. Etching of chemical vapor deposited tungsten and e-beam deposited tungsten oxide samples was performed using atomic fluorine generated by a microwave discharge of argon and NF3. Etching was found to be highly activated with activation energies approximated to be 6.0±0.5 kcal/mol and 5.4±0.4 kcal/mol for W and WO3, respectively. In the case of F etching of tungsten, the addition of undischarged nitric oxide (NO) directly into the reaction chamber results in the competing effects of catalytic etch rate enhancement and the formation of a nearly stoichiometric WO3 passivating tungsten oxide film, which ultimately stops the etching process. For F etching of tungsten oxide, the introduction of downstream NO reduces the etch rate.