Plasma etching of cesium iodide

Abstract

Thick films of cesium iodide (CsI) are often used to convert x-ray images into visible light. Spreading of the visible light within CsI, however, reduces the resolution of the resulting image. Anisotropic etching of the CsI film into an array of micropixels can improve the image resolution by confining light within each pixel. The etching process uses a high-density inductively coupled plasma to pattern CsI samples held by a heated, rf-biased chuck. Fluorine-containing gases such as CF4 are found to enhance the etch rate by an order of magnitude compared to Ar+ sputtering alone. Without inert-gas ion bombardment, however, the CF4 etch becomes self-limited within a few microns of depth due to the blanket deposition of a passivation layer. Using CF4+Ar continuously removes this layer from the lateral surfaces, but the formation of a thick passivation layer on the unbombarded sidewalls of etched features is observed by scanning electron microscopy. At a substrate temperature of 220 °C, the minimum ion-bombardment energy for etching is Ei∼50 eV, and the rate depends on Ei1/2 above 65 eV. In dilute mixtures of CF4 and Ar, the etch rate is proportional to the gas-phase density of atomic fluorine. Above 50% CF4, however, the rate decreases, indicating the onset of net surface polymer deposition. These observations suggest that anisotropy is obtained through the ion-enhanced inhibitor etching mechanism. Etching exhibits an Arrhenius-type behavior in which the etch rate increases from ∼40 nm/min at 40 °C to 380 nm/min at 330 °C. The temperature dependence corresponds to an activation energy of 0.13±0.01 eV. This activation energy is consistent with the electronic sputtering mechanism for alkali halides.