Various Phenomena on PSI. PSI in Plasma Processing Devices. Plasma Etching.

Abstract

Plasma etching is an indispensable processing technique in the fabrication of modern microelectronic devices. The processing is essentially the result of physical and chemical processes of enormous complexity that occur in the gas phase and at the gas-solid interface. Nowadays, as integrated circuit device dimensions continue to be scaled down, increasingly strict requirements are being imposed on plasma etching technology, which in turn requires a better understanding of the physics and chemistry underlying the processing. This paper reviews recent studies of plasma-surface interactions in plasma etching environments, including gas-phase kinetics, plasma-wall interactions, and plasma-surface interactions in large open fields and also in microstructural features. Emphasis is placed on silicon etching in low-pressure, high-density chlorine-containing plasmas, which relies primarily on ion-assisted or ion-enhanced surface reaction processes during simultaneous exposure of neutral reactants and energetic ions.