Average Etch Rate Research Articles

Surface-pattern geometry, topography, and chemical modifications during KrF excimer laser micro-drilling of p-type Si (111) wafers in ambient environment of HCl fumes in air

Eight mirror-like polished p-type Si (111) wafers were irradiated with 100, 200, 300, 400, 800, 1200, 1600, and 2000 KrF excimer laser pulses in ambient environment of HCl fumes in air. The laser parameters were: wavelength = 248 nm, pulse width = 20 ns, pulse energy = 20 mJ, and repetition rate = 20 Hz. For each set of laser pulses, characterization of the rectangular etched patterns formed on target surface was done by optical/scanning electron microscopy, XRD, and EDX techniques. The average etched depth increased with the increase in number of laser pulses from 100 to 2000 in accord with Sigmoidal (Boltzmann) function, whereas the average etch rate followed an exponential decay with the increase in number of laser pulses. However, the etched area, maximum etched depth, and maximum etch rate were found to increase linearly with the number of laser pulses, but the rate of increase was faster for 100–400 laser pulses (region I) than that for 800–2000 laser pulses (region II). The elemental composition for each etched-pattern determined by EDX shows that both O and Cl contents increase progressively with the increase in the number of laser shots in region I. However, in region II both O and Cl contents attain saturation values of about 39.33 wt.% and 0.14 wt.%, respectively. Perforation of Si wafers was achieved on irradiation with 1200–2000 laser pulses. XRD analysis confirmed the formation of SiO2, SiCl2 and SiCl4 phases in Si (111) wafers due to chemical reaction of silicon with both HCl fumes and oxygen in air.

Effect of metal particles on the rate of Si etching with N-fluoropyridinium salts

The effect of Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Pd, Ag, Pt, or Au metal particles on the rate of Si etching using N-fluoropyridinium salts was examined. The average etching depth increased when N-fluoropyridinium salts were mixed with Cu particles. The activation energy determined from the temperature dependence of the average etching rate for the Cu particles is lower than that without a metal. The Cu particles greatly improve the etching of Si with the salts compared with the other metals. The magnitude of the effect of the Cu particles on the rate of Si etching with the salts is larger than that of the Mn, Fe, Ni, or Zn particles. This can be explained by the order of the relative stabilities of the complexes formed by bivalent ions of transition metals. The etching method involves the application of easy-to-handle salts containing Cu particles as etchants on the Si surface and has the potential to be a simple and less expensive form of Si etching.

Application of Fresnel diffraction from phase steps to measurement of etching rate of transparent materials.

Based on Fresnel diffraction from phase steps, we present an optical method for real-time monitoring and measurement of thickness during the wet etching of transparent materials. It is shown experimentally that during the etching process, the visibility of diffraction fringes varies periodically with time (thickness) and the rate the etching is measured. Using dilute etching solutions, we measured an average etching rate of 5.3 nm/s for glass.

Progress and Mechanism of Cu Assisted Chemical Etching of Silicon in a Low Cu2+ Concentration Region

Silicon wafer with a nanostructured porous layer on top surface was obtained with Cu(NO3)2-HF-H2O2 aqueous solution treatment in a low Cu2+ concentration region (0.001 M-0.02 M). The influences of different recipes concentrations on silicon surface morphology and the average etching rate were investigated. Craters and pores structures are successfully formed on the silicon surface layer. No copper particles are observed from the SEM images of as-prepared silicon surface with pores. The mechanism of forming nanostructured porous layer on silicon surface without metal nanoparticles was discussed. The morphology evolution of Si surface and the transition from craters to pores in the low Cu2+ concentration region were investigated.

In Situ Cleaning Process of Silicon Carbide Epitaxial Reactor

In order to develop the in situ cleaning process using chlorine trifluoride gas for a silicon carbide epitaxial reactor, the etching conditions and process were studied for removing the silicon carbide film formed on the susceptor. The formed silicon carbide film consisted of stacked layers of a polycrystalline 4H-like silicon carbide film, a polycrystalline 3C-silicon carbide film and a silicon-rich silicon carbide film. The average etching rate of the formed film was about four times higher than the silicon carbide coating film of the carbon susceptor. By adjusting the etching temperature to less than 330°C, the formed silicon carbide films could be removed without significant damage to the susceptor.

Plasma processing of large curved surfaces for superconducting rf cavity modification

Plasma based surface modification of niobium is a promising alternative to wet etching of superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities. The development of the technology based on Cl2/Ar plasma etching has to address several crucial parameters which influence the etching rate and surface roughness, and eventually, determine cavity performance. This includes dependence of the process on the frequency of the RF generator, gas pressure, power level, the driven (inner) electrode configuration, and the chlorine concentration in the gas mixture during plasma processing. To demonstrate surface layer removal in the asymmetric non-planar geometry, we are using a simple cylindrical cavity with 8 ports symmetrically distributed over the cylinder. The ports are used for diagnosing the plasma parameters and as holders for the samples to be etched. The etching rate is highly correlated with the shape of the inner electrode, radio-frequency (RF) circuit elements, chlorine concentration in the Cl2/Ar gas mixtures, residence time of reactive species and temperature of the cavity. Using cylindrical electrodes with variable radius, large-surface ring-shaped samples and d.c. bias implementation in the external circuit we have demonstrated substantial average etching rates and outlined the possibility to optimize plasma properties with respect to maximum surface processing effect.

The effect of ArF laser irradiation (193 nm) on the photodegradation and etching properties of alpha-irradiated CR-39 detectors

The effects of ArF laser irradiation (λ=193nm) at various fluences (energy dose or energy density) on the etching properties of pre-exposed (laser+alpha) CR-39 detectors were studied. First, UV–Vis and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra were acquired for non-laser-irradiated and laser-irradiated samples to detect the influence of the ArF laser on the chemical modification of the CR-39. Changes observed in the spectra indicated that the predominant process that occurred upon ArF laser irradiation was a bond-scission process. Thereafter, the mean track and bulk etching parameters were experimentally measured in ArF-laser-irradiated CR-39 detectors exposed to an alpha source (241Am, E=5.49MeV). Inhomogeneous regions in the laser-irradiated side of the CR-39 demonstrated a variable etching rate on only the front side of the CR-39 detector. New equations are also presented for the average bulk etching rate for these inhomogeneous regions (front side). The mean bulk and track etching rates and the mean track dimensions increased in a fluence range of 0–37.03mJ/cm2 because of photodegradation and the scission of chemical bonds, which are the predominant processes in this range. When the fluence was increased from 37.03 to 123.45mJ/cm2, the bulk and track etching rates and the track dimensions slowly decreased because of the formation of cross-linked structures on the CR-39 surface. The behavior of the bulk and track etching rates and the track dimensions appears to be proportional to the dose absorbed on the detector surface. It was observed that as the etching time was increased, the bulk and track etching rates and the track dimensions of the laser-irradiated samples decreased because of the shallow penetration depth of the 193nm laser and the reduction in the oxygen penetration depth.

Interference Lithography Patterned Nanogratings in LiNbO<sub>3</sub> Fabricated by Dry Etching

Channel waveguides have been fabricated in x-cut lithium niobate (LiNbO3) by proton exchange (PE) method and optically measured. The thickness and the optical constants of the thin PE layer were characterized using a prism coupling technique. The PE area was plasma etched and a 2.775-μm total etching depth was achieved. The measured average etching rate is 92.5 nm/min. One-and two-dimensional dense arrays of LiNbO3 nanostructures have also been fabricated by using interference lithography (IL) and inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching (ICP-RIE) techniques.Intorduction

Development of cylindrical reactive ion etching technology for fabricating tubular microstructures

This paper describes the development of a novel technology that can form a dense and complex pattern on a polymer tube without thermal damage. We have developed an etching mask and equipment capable of processing the tubular material. We named this technology cylindrical RIE (reactive ion etching). In order to evaluate the fundamental processing characteristics of this technology, etching rate, side etching ratio and etching uniformities along the tube axis and circumferential directions are evaluated. As a result, a vertical wall caused by anisotropic etching could be observed, and the average etching rate was 1.0 µm min−1 and the average side etching ratio was 0.027. The maximum differences between etching rate along the axis and circumferential directions were 0.25 and 0.12 µm min−1, respectively. The cross-section of the etched through-groove (slit) processed in a PP (polypropylene) tube having wall thickness of 200 µm was evaluated. By the bowing phenomenon, pattern width decreased most at the middle of the thickness of the tube wall, and average width errors at the middle of the thickness was 22.4 µm. To demonstrate the usefulness of the cylindrical RIE, a stent made of PP tube was fabricated. It was possible to fabricate a stent with an outer diameter of 4.4 mm, length of 19 mm, main strut width of 300 µm, and connecting strut width of 80 µm.

Aspect Ratio Dependent Analytic Model and Application in Deep Silicon Etch

An aspect ratio (AR) dependent analytic model was developed for an inductively coupled plasma system. It can be used to quantitatively evaluate aspect ratio dependent etch (ARDE), RIE lag and accurately predict etch depth of circular hole. The reciprocal of average etch rate is a linear function of AR and only related to initial etch rate at the top of the feature and reaction possibility at the bottom of the feature. Initial etch rate can be extracted to obtain an accurate value not an approximate value. Our experimental data is in good agreement with the proposed etch model.

Vapor Phase Metal‐Assisted Chemical Etching of Silicon

This work introduces and explores vapor phase metal‐assisted chemical etching (VP‐MaCE) of silicon as a method to bypass some of the challenges found in traditional liquid phase metal‐assisted chemical etching (LP‐MaCE). Average etch rates for Ag, Au, and Pd/Au catalysts are established at 31, 70, and 96 nm/min respectively, and the relationship between etch rate and substrate temperature is examined experimentally. Just as with LP‐MaCE, 3D catalyst motion is maintained and three‐dimensional structures are fabricated with nanoparticle‐ and lithography‐patterned catalysts. VP‐MaCE produces less microporous silicon compared with LP‐MaCE and the diffusion/reduction distance of Ag+ ions is significantly reduced. This process sacrifices etch rate for increased etch uniformity and lower stiction for applications in micro‐electromechanical systems (MEMS) processing.

Research on the Mechanism of Multilayer Reactive Ion Etching

Dry etching has now become one of the key processes of high ratio of depth to width microstructure and fine patterning. This paper presents a new dry etching technology - multilayer reactive ion etching technology (MRIE). By taking full advantage of the spatial layout of the chamber, arranging multi-layer electrodes and transporting the discharged gas by a layered air supply device, the function of simultaneous etching in every reaction chamber (layer) is realized. This method can significantly enhance the productivity. Taking the photoresist etching by MRIE as an example, the law and mechanism influencing the etching rate and uniformity were analyzed for different conditions. The result shows that when plate distance is 50/55/60 mm (from bottom to top), and vacuum degree, ratio of O2 to Ar, RF source power, and continuous etching time are respectively 40 Pa, 1/2, 600 W, and 20 min, the optimal process is achieved. The average etching rate and uniformity are 143.93 Å/min and 9.8%, respectively.

Investigation of chlorine-based etchants in wet and dry etching technology for an InP planar Gunn diode

Mesa etching technology is considerably important in the Gunn diode fabrication process. In this paper we fabricate InP Gunn diodes with two different kinds of chlorine-based etchants for the mesa etching for comparative study. We use two chlorine-based etchants, one is HCl-based solution (HCl/H3PO4), and the other is Cl2-based gas mixture by utilizing inductively coupled plasma system (ICP). The results show that the wet etching (HCl-based) offers low cost and approximately vertical sidewall, whilst ICP system (Cl2-based) offers an excellent and uniform vertical sidewall, and the over-etching is tiny on the top and the bottom of mesa. And the fabricated mesas of Gunn diodes have average etching rates of ∼ 0.6 μm/min and ∼ 1.2 μm/min, respectively. The measured data show that the current of Gunn diode by wet etching is lower than that by ICP, and the former has a higher threshold voltage. It provides a low-cost and reliable method which is potentially applied to the fabrication of chip terahertz sources.

Study of As50Se50 Thin Film Dissolution Kinetics in Amine based Solutions

Abstract Chalcogenide glass thin films are suitable materials for micro optical elements fabrication due to their convenient physical and chemical properties. They are generally photosensitive and thus can be selectively etched. Therefore they can be exploited as photoresists in photolithography. In this paper we deal with the study of As 50 Se 50 thin films dissolution kinetics in EDA based solutions. The detailed evolution of the etching curves is discussed and the dependences of the average etching rate on the composition and temperature of the etching bath are described.

Surface Morphology Control of Passivated Porous Silicon Using Reactive Ion Etching

In this paper, reactive ion etching of porous silicon (PS) passivated using a low-temperature anneal in N <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> atmosphere is studied. The average etch rates of both as-fabricated PS and passivated PS required tens of seconds to stabilize due to plasma initialization. The steady-state etch rate of our passivated PS was lower than that of the as-fabricated PS, due to the change in the surface chemistry caused by the passivation process. Depending on etch conditions, the PS surface can be made smooth or rough with features up to 600 nm in height. Feature height could be controlled via the etching time, and their composition could be changed from an oxide-rich silicon oxynitride to pure silicon, depending on the etching conditions.

Fabrication of planar nanofluidic channels in thermoplastic polymers by O 2 plasma etching

A simple O2 plasma etching method is developed and first used to fabricate planar nanofluidic channels in thermoplastic polymers. In this process, a copper etching mask with a micron-scale width is made by traditional UV lithography and wet etching on a polymer substrate, then the polymer substrate is etched by O2 plasma in a commonly used plasma cleaner to form the planar nanochannel. Effects of the process parameters of the plasma cleaner on the etching rate are studied. The average etching rate for most thermoplastic polymers used in lab-on-a-chip is about 10 nm/min and the surface roughness is less than 2 nm when radio frequency power and chamber pressure are 60 W and 200 Pa, respectively. To demonstrate this method, a polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) micro-nanofluidic chip containing nine parallel nanochannels, 100 nm in depth, 5 µm wide and 1 mm long, is fabricated to investigate the ion enrichment of 1 µM fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) in 10 mM phosphate buffered saline (PBS) buffer.

Optimization of submicron deep trench profiles with the STiGer cryoetching process: reduction of defects

The STiGer process is a time-multiplexed cryogenic etching method designed to achieve high aspect ratio structures on silicon. SF6 or SF6/O2 plasmas are used as etch cycles and SiF4/O2 plasmas are used as passivation cycles. Trenches with a critical dimension of 0.8 µm have been etched to a depth of 38 µm with an average etch rate of 1.8 µm min−1. These features exhibit both undercut and a defect which is called extended scalloping. We describe this defect specific to the STiGer process and we discuss its origin: the extended scalloping is composed of anisotropic cavities developed on the sidewalls of the feature top (typically in the first 2–3 µm below the mask). It originates from ions scattered at the feature entrance that hit the top profile and remove the passivation layer where it is weakest. Then, we propose two methods to reduce this extended scalloping. The first consists in adding a low oxygen flow in the etching cycle. It favors a low additional passivation which reduces scalloping. The second technique consists in gradually increasing the SF6 flow from a low value to the nominal value. Consequently, the process starts with a low etch rate and an efficient passivation.

Experimental Study of the Influence of Process Pressure and Gas Composition on GaAs Etching Characteristics in Cl2/BCl3-Based Inductively Coupled Plasma

A study of Cl2/BCl3-based inductively coupled plasma (ICP) was conducted using thick photoresist mask for anisotropic etching of 50 μm diameter holes in a GaAs wafer at a relatively high average etching rate for etching depths of more than 150 μm. Plasma etch characteristics with ICP process pressure and the percentage of BCl3 were studied in greater detail at a constant ICP coil/bias power. The measured peak-to-peak voltage as a function of pressure was used to estimate the minimum energy of the ions bombarding the substrate. The process pressure was found to have a substantial influence on the energy of heavy ions. Various ion species in plasma showed minimum energy variation from 1.85 eV to 7.5 eV in the pressure range of 20 mTorr to 50 mTorr. The effect of pressure and the percentage of BCl3 on the etching rate and surface smoothness of the bottom surface of the etched hole were studied for a fixed total flow rate. The etching rate was found to decrease with the percentage of BCl3, whereas the addition of BCl3 resulted in anisotropic holes with a smooth veil free bottom surface at a pressure of 30 mTorr and 42% BCl3. In addition, variation of the etching yield with pressure and etching depth were also investigated.

ToF‐SIMS imaging and depth profiling of HeLa cells treated with bromodeoxyuridine

Time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry 2D images and molecular depth profiles of human HeLa cells treated with bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) were acquired in the dual beam mode (Bi(3) (+) analysis beam, C(60) (+) etching beam). Several preparation protocols were investigated and were compared to a simple wash-and-dry method. The feasibility of using C(60) to clean the samples prior to imaging with Bi was also investigated quantitatively by calibrating full depth profiles of the cells using atomic force microscopy. BrdU was used as a marker for the cell nucleus, facilitating identification and localization of sub-cellular features during depth profiling. Results show that C(60) can be used to remove the surface contamination and to access different layers within the cells for 2D imaging. For a 1 nA, 10 keV C(60) (+) beam incident at 45° and rastered over a 500 × 500 μm(2) area, ~1 nm of biological material was sputtered every second. Our results show that HeLa cells were completely removed after etching with 1.3×10(15) C(60) (+) ions per cm(2), giving an average etching rate of 3.9 nm for every 10(13) C(60) per cm(2) at 10 keV and 45° incidence.

NANOSCALE ARRAYS IN LITHIUM NIOBATE FABRICATED BY INTERFERENCE LITHOGRAPHY AND DRY ETCHING

Channel waveguides have been fabricated in x-cut lithium niobate (LiNbO3) by proton exchange (PE) method and optically measured. The thickness and the optical constants of the thin PE layer were characterized using a prism coupling technique. The PE area was plasma etched and a 2.775-μm total etching depth was achieved. The measured average etching rate is 92.5 nm/min. One- and two-dimensional dense arrays of LiNbO3 nanostructures have also been fabricated by using interference lithography (IL) and inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching (ICP-RIE) techniques.