Plasma and fluorocarbon-gas free Si dry etching process using a Cat-CVD system

Abstract

A heated tungsten filament was used to cataltyze the gas phase etching of crystalline silicon with hydrogen at a substrate temperature of 200°C for obtaining plasma and contamination free etching. Etch rates, between 100 and 200 nm/min were obtained in a pure hydrogen ambient in the pressure range of 0.01–0.5 Torr. No etching effect was observed in the case of SiO 2. No tungsten or other metal and carbon contaminations on the etched silicon surface were detected by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.