Plasma Reactive Ion Etching Research Articles

Development of nano and micro SQUIDs based on Al tunnel junctions

Superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) with nano (micro)-meter dimensions are called nano (micro)-SQUIDs. The high sensitivity for flux and position of nano (micro)-SQUIDs can be applied to detect local magnetic fields induced by vortices and the magnetization of mesoscopic superconductors. Nano-SQUIDs based on carbon-nanotube junctions and niobium weak junctions are well known. However, such nano-SQUIDs are not suitable for large-scale integrated circuits and mass production. Therefore, we employ a combination of lithography using the Niemeyer-Dolan technique and the inductively coupled plasma reactive-ion etching technique to fabricate nano-SQUIDs. Here, we report the fabrication of nano (micro)-SQUIDs based on superconducting aluminum tunnel junctions and their application for vortex formation into mesoscopic chiral superconducting Sr2RuO4[1-3].

Electron Beam Lithographic Pixelated Micropolarizer Array for Real-Time Phase Measurement

Pixelated micropolarizer arrays (PMAs) have recently been used as key components to achieve real-time phase measurement. PMA fabrication by electron beam lithography and inductively coupled plasma-reactive ion etching is proposed in this work. A 320 × 240 aluminum PMA with 7.4 μm pitch is successfully fabricated by the proposed technique. The period of the grating is 140 nm, and the polarization directions of each of the 2 × 2 units are 0°, 45°, 90°, and 135°. The scanning electron microscopy and optical microscopy results show that the PMA has a good surface characteristic and polarization performances. When the PMA is applied to phase-shifting interferometry, four fringe patterns of different polarization directions are obtained from only one single frame image, and then the object wave phase is calculated in real time.

Evolution of titanium residue on the walls of a plasma-etching reactor and its effect on the polysilicon etching rate

The variation in polysilicon plasma etching rates caused by Ti residue on the reactor walls was investigated. The amount of Ti residue was measured using attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy with the HgCdTe (MCT) detector installed on the side of the reactor. As the amount of Ti residue increased, the number of fluorine radicals and the polysilicon etching rate increased. However, a maximum limit in the etching rate was observed. A mechanism of rate variation was proposed, whereby F radical consumption on the quartz reactor wall is suppressed by the Ti residue. The authors also investigated a plasma-cleaning method for the removal of Ti residue without using a BCl3 gas, because the reaction products (e.g., boron oxide) on the reactor walls frequently cause contamination of the product wafers during etching. CH-assisted chlorine cleaning, which is a combination of CHF3 and Cl2 plasma treatment, was found to effectively remove Ti residue from the reactor walls. This result shows that CH radicals play an important role in deoxidizing and/or defluorinating Ti residue on the reactor walls.

Pt 금속마스크를 이용하여 제작한 나노패턴 Si(111) 기판위에 성장한 GaN 박막 특성

본 연구에서는 Si(111) 기판을 이용하여 고품질의 GaN 박막을 성장하기 위하여 다양한 패턴을 갖는 Si 기판을 제작하였다. Si(111) 기판위에 이온 스퍼터(ion-sputter)를 이용하여 Pt 박막을 증착한 후 열처리(thermal annealing)하여 Pt 금속 마스크를 형성하고 유도 결합 플라즈마 이온 식각(inductively coupled plasma-reactive ion etching, ICP-RIE) 공정을 통하여 기둥(pillar)형태의 나노 패턴된 Si(111) 기판을 제작하였고 리소그래피 공정을 통하여 마이크로 패턴된 Si(111) 기판을 제작하였다. 일반적인 Si(111) 기판, 마이크로 패턴된 Si(111) 기판 및 나노 패턴된 Si(111) 기판위에 유기화학기상증착(metal organic chemical vapor deposition, MOCVD) 방법으로 GaN 박막을 성장하여 표면 특성과 결정성 및 광학적 특성을 분석하였다. 나노 패턴된 Si(111) 기판위에 성장한 GaN 박막은 일반적인Si(111) 기판과 마이크로 패턴된 Si(111) 기판위에 성장한 GaN 박막보다 표면의 균열과 거칠기가 개선되었다. 나노 패턴된 Si(111) 기판위에 성장한 GaN (002)면과 (102)면에 x-선 회절(x-ray diffraction, XRD) 피크의 반폭치(full width at half maximum, FWHM)는 576 arcsec, 828 arcsec으로 다른 두 기판위에 성장한 GaN 박막 보다 가장 낮은 값을 보여 결정성이 향상되었음을 확인하였다. Photoluminescence(PL)의 반폭치는 나노 패턴된 Si(111) 기판위에 성장한 GaN 박막이 46.5 meV으로 다른 기판위에 성장한 GaN 박막과 비교하여 광학적 특성이 향상되었음을 확인하였다. An attempt to grow high quality GaN on silicon substrate using metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), herein GaN epitaxial layers were grown on various Si(111) substrates. Thin Platinum layer was deposited on Si(111) substrate using sputtering, followed by thermal annealing to form Pt nano-clusters which act as masking layer during dry-etched with inductively coupled plasma-reactive ion etching to generate nano-patterned Si(111) substrate. In addition, micro-patterned Si(111) substrate with circle shape was also fabricated by using conventional photo-lithography technique. GaN epitaxial layers were subsequently grown on micro-, nano-patterned and conventional Si (111) substrate under identical growth conditions for comparison. The GaN layer grown on nano-patterned Si (111) substrate shows the lowest crack density with mirror-like surface morphology. The FWHM values of XRD rocking curve measured from symmetry (002) and asymmetry (102) planes are 576 arcsec and 828 arcsec, respectively. To corroborate an enhancement of the growth quality, the FWHM value achieved from the photoluminescence spectra also shows the lowest value (46.5 meV) as compare to other grown samples.

Mask-Free Surface Structuring of Micro- and Nanocrystalline Diamond Films by Reactive Ion Plasma Etching

Mask-Free Surface Structuring of Micro- and Nanocrystalline Diamond Films by Reactive Ion Plasma Etching

Fabrication of large-sized two-dimensional ordered surface array with well-controlled structure via colloidal particle lithography.

Epoxy resin coated glass slides were used for colloidal particle lithography, in order to prepare well-defined 2D surface arrays. Upon the assistance of a large-sized 2D colloidal single crystal as template, centimeter-sized ordered surface arrays of bowl-like units were obtained. Systematic studies revealed that the parameters of obtained surface arrays could be readily controlled by some operational factors, such as temperature, epoxy resin layer thickness, and template particle size. With epoxy resin substituting for normal linear polymer, the height/diameter ratio of bowls in the formed surface arrays can be largely increased. With further reactive plasma etching, the parameters of ordered surface arrays could be finely tuned through controlling etching time. This study provides a facile way to prepare large-sized 2D surface arrays with tunable parameters.

The Investigation of Microstructures Fabrication on Quartz Substrate Employing Electron Beam Lithography (EBL) and ICP-RIE Process

The fabrication of micro or nano-structures on quartz substrate has attracted researchers' attention and interests in recent years due to a wide range of potential applications such as NEMS/MEMS, sensors and biomedical engineering. Various types of next generation lithographic methods have been explored since optical lithography physical limitations has hindered the fabrication of high aspects ratio (HAR) structure on quartz substrates. In this research, the top-down fabrication approach was employed to fabricate microstructures on quartz substrate using Electron Beam Lithography (EBL) system, followed by the pattern transfer process using Inductively Coupled Plasma-Reactive Ion Etching (ICP-RIE) technique. The factors that influenced pattern definition include the type of electron beam (e-beam) photoresist, e-beam exposure parameter such as spot size, working distance, write field, step size, e-beam current, dosage as well as the type of developer and its developing time. The optimum conditions were investigated in achieving micro or nano-structures. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) with energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) and atomic force microscope (AFM) were utilized to characterize the structures profiles.

Comparison of optimised conditions for inductively coupled plasma‐reactive ion etching of quartz substrates and its optical applications

A C4F8/He inductively coupled plasma-reactive ion etching (ICP-RIE) was studied to improve the etching conditions of quartz glass. The influences of C4F8 flow rate, He flow rate, chamber pressure, inductively coupled plasma (ICP) power, bias power and cooling temperature were investigated. A report is presented on an optimum etching condition for fabricating quartz-based optical components considering their application in diffractive optical element (DOE) devices. As per these etching results, the etched microstructure exhibited a depth of 44.2 μm and a vertical sidewall angle of 89° resulting from an ICP power of 3000 W, a bias power of 200 W, a chamber pressure of 2.5 mTorr and an etching time of 120 min in a mixture of C4F8 and He gases with 30 and 100 sccm flow rates, respectively. The successful fabrication of the DOE component by ICP-RIE is reported. This can be used to provide the uniform light intensity distribution for a DOE device.

Nanometer-Scale Vertical-Sidewall Reactive Ion Etching of InGaAs for 3-D III-V MOSFETs

This letter introduces a novel inductively coupled plasma-reactive ion etching (ICP-RIE) technique based on a BCl <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sub> /SiCl <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">4</sub> /Ar chemistry for fabricating sub-20 nm diameter InGaAs nanowires with smooth, vertical sidewall and high aspect ratio (>10). To mitigate dry-etch damage, RIE is followed by a digital etch method comprised of multiple cycles of self-limiting low power O <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> plasma oxidation and diluted H <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> SO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">4</sub> rinse. Using these technologies, we demonstrate vertical InGaAs gateall-around nanowire MOSFETs with 30 nm diameter. Digital etch improves both the subthreshold swing and peak transconductance, indicating enhanced sidewall interfacial quality. The combination of RIE and digital etch techniques proposed here is promising for future 3-D III-V MOSFETs.

Chemistry studies of SF6/CF4, SF6/O2 and CF4/O2 gas phase during hollow cathode reactive ion etching plasma

In this work, mass spectrometry and optical emission spectroscopy techniques were used to monitor the molecular and atomic neutral species during SF6/CF4, SF6/O2 and CF4/O2 plasmas generated in a radio-frequency Hollow Cathode Reactive Ion Etching (HCRIE) reactor keeping constant the following operational conditions: total gas flow rate, gas pressure, and discharge power. The investigations were aimed to understand the chemistry behavior of plasmas generated with SF6 and CF4 mixtures or mixed separately with O2. The neutral mass spectrometry analysis showed a high concentration of gas species namely SF5+ (parent specie = SF6), SF3+ (SF4), CF3+ (CF4) and HF+ (HF) in SF6/CF4 plasmas, SF5+, SF3+, O2+ (O2), F+ (F) and HF+ in SF6/O2 plasmas and CF3+, O2+, CO2+ (CO2) and HF+ in CF4/O2 plasmas. The presence of other species was observed in quantities lower than 1% of total gas pressure. It was used the actinometry method to monitor the atomic fluorine (F) concentration during discharge operation. Higher density of F was observed in all experiments, varying from (2.8–9.5) × 1019 m−3 in SF6/CF4 plasmas, (0.2–1.7) × 1020 m−3 in SF6/O2 plasmas and (0.06–1.17) × 1020 m−3 in CF4/O2 plasmas. The addition of CF4 in SF6 plasma reduces monotonically the F concentration when compared with the SF6/O2 and CF4/O2 plasmas that promotes an increase of F for low O2 concentrations. This effect shows the importance of oxygen species in the dissociative processes of the fluorine-based plasma also for this type of plasma reactor. Moreover, it is highlighted the higher concentrations of HF in gas phase that promotes reactions paths that decrease the F species in gas/plasma phase.

Single-crystal superconducting nanowires of NbSe2 fabricated by reactive plasma etching

We present the preparation and measurements of nanowires of single-crystal NbSe2. These nanowires were prepared on ultrathin (≲10 nm) flakes of NbSe2 mechanically exfoliated from a bulk single crystal using a process combining electron beam lithography and reactive plasma etching. The electrical contacts to the nanowires were prepared using Ti/Au. Our technique, which overcomes several limitations of methods developed previously for fabricating superconducting nanowires, also allows for the preparation of complex superconducting nanostructures with a desired geometry. Current-voltage characteristics of individual superconducting single-crystal nanowires with widths down to 30 nm and cross-sectional areas as low as 270 nm2 were measured.

Surface Roughness and Wettability Correlation on Etched Platinum Using Reactive Ion Ecthing

As the world of semiconductor is moving towards smaller and high-end applications, the quality of the bonding adhesion for wire bonding is very critical. Although aluminium has been the metallization of choice in integrated circuits, it can be easily oxidized during high temperature and pressure. On the other hand, Platinum metallization layer has high thermal coefficient resistance and inert to oxygen. This paper reports the correlation between surface roughness and the wettability in the form of contact angle for Platinum deposited wafer etched using Inductively Couple Plasma-Reactive Ion Etching (ICP-RIE). Surface roughness was measured using AFM while contact angle was obtained via droplet test. The results clearly suggested that both surface roughness and wettabily, calculated by its contact angle value has the same trend. Surface roughness is directly proportional to the contact angle. This indicates that surface roughness have great influence on the surface wettability. Therefore, the adhesion for wire bonding process on platinum metallization which can be used in high end applications can be controlled by its surface roughness and wettability.

Evaluation of Young’s modulus of imprinted hydrogen silsesquioxane pillar after residual layer removal by reactive ion etching

Nanoimprint lithography has two basic steps. The first is the imprint step in which a mold with nanostructures on its surface is pressed into a resin film on a substrate, followed by removal of the mold. The second step is the residual layer removal by a reactive ion etching (RIE). There is no report whether the properties of the imprinted structure after RIE change or not. In this work, the authors evaluated the Young's modulus of the imprinted pillar after residual layer removal by RIE. In this experiment, hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ), a type of spin-on-glass, was used as an imprint material. The residual layer was etched by RIE using CHF3 gas. The Young's modulus of imprinted pillar after RIE was measured via cantilever method. The Young's modulus of HSQ pillar after RIE was twice as much as that of HSQ pillar before RIE. From the Fourier transform infrared measurement, it was founds the chemical structure of HSQ was changed by forming network structure due to heating by RIE plasma energy. These results indicate that the mechanical property of imprinted structure was changed in the residual layer removal step by using RIE.

ViPER: simulation software for high aspect ratio plasma etching of silicon

The process of pattern transfer of desired topological integrated circuits features into silicon or other semiconductor compounds plays a critical role for the production of microelectronic and photonic devices, and micro- and nanoelectromechanical systems. Any deviation from the desired shape of the pattern limits density, yield, and reliability of these devices. Gas reactivity, pressure, ion, electron, and reactant transport to the surface, and product transport away from the surface, have been identified as important issues that control the microscopic uniformity in high aspect ratio etching. A plasma etching simulation software, containing corresponding physical models, can be used to establish a link between etch process parameters such as pressure, rf power, etching gas chemistry, temperature, and the physical and chemical process parameters like energy and angular distribution of ions and neutrals, radical sticking, and surface charging. ViPER (Virtual Plasma Etch Reactor) is a full featured plasma processing simulation software developed at Ilmenau University of Technology, Department of Microelectronic and Nanoelectronic Systems (MNES) [ http://www.tu-ilmenau.de/en/mne-mns/research/plasma-etching/viper-download ]. The simulator allows a deep analysis of the most significant effects like reactive ion etching lag, charging, notching, bowing, faceting, microtrenching, profile shape dependence, and gives more insight into the physical phenomena occurring in the plasma reactor during plasma etching process, helping engineers to understand how plasma etching works.

Optimum reactive ion etching of x-cut quartz using SF6 and Ar

In this paper we investigate the effect of Ar concentration and shadow mask material on the etch rate, surface roughness, and micromask pit density and depth for reactive ion etching (RIE) of x-cut alpha quartz. The ratio of SF6 to Ar is varied at constant power and pressure to find an optimum Ar concentration for thinning x-cut quartz while maintaining good surface quality. The recipe is used with an STS320 RIE system to produce smooth, through-hole-free, insulating quartz membranes of 7 µm thickness in selective locations on 100 µm thick x-cut quartz wafers. We demonstrate that surface quality is much improved by replacing at least 75% of the SF6 by volume with Ar, and that for non-inductively coupled plasma RIE the standard mask material nickel is detrimental to surface quality for long etch times.

Device for the precise shape correction of optical surfaces by ion-beam and reactive plasma etching

A device for the precise shape correction of optical surfaces of any irregular shape (convex, concave) up to 300 mm in diameter by means of ion-beam and reactive plasma etching is described. The possibilities of the device allow the fabrication of optical elements with a root-mean-square deviation from the desired shape on the level of 0.3 to 1.0 nm.

Discovery during Hydrogen Annealing: Formation of Nanoscale Fluorocarbon Tubular Structures

A novel fabrication method for nanoscale tubular structures is presented in this paper. The tubular structures can be obtained by heating single-crystal silicon trenches or pillars formed by the inductively coupled plasma reactive-ion etching (ICP-RIE) Bosch process in hydrogen ambient. The importance of initial vacuum in the reaction chamber for tube formation and the tube formation mechanism were discussed. The components and sidewall size of the tubular structure were also studied to verify that the tube is made of the fluorocarbon (CF) passivation layer deposited by the Bosch process. The CF tubular structure would be a promising structure for BioMEMS.

Investigations on Diamond Nanostructuring of Different Morphologies by the Reactive-Ion Etching Process and Their Potential Applications

We report the systematic studies on the fabrication of aligned, uniform, and highly dense diamond nanostructures from diamond films of various granular structures. Self-assembled Au nanodots are used as a mask in the self-biased reactive-ion etching (RIE) process, using an O2/CF4 process plasma. The morphology of diamond nanostructures is a close function of the initial phase composition of diamond. Cone-shaped and tip-shaped diamond nanostructures result for microcrystalline diamond (MCD) and nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) films, whereas pillarlike and grasslike diamond nanostructures are obtained for Ar-plasma-based and N2-plasma-based ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD) films, respectively. While the nitrogen-incorporated UNCD (N-UNCD) nanograss shows the most-superior electron-field-emission properties, the NCD nanotips exhibit the best photoluminescence properties, viz, different applications need different morphology of diamond nanostructures to optimize the respective characteristics. The optimum diamond nanostructure can be achieved by proper choice of granular structure of the initial diamond film. The etching mechanism is explained by in situ observation of optical emission spectrum of RIE plasma. The preferential etching of sp(2)-bonded carbon contained in the diamond films is the prime factor, which forms the unique diamond nanostructures from each type of diamond films. However, the excited oxygen atoms (O*) are the main etching species of diamond film.

Dual layer photoresist complimentary lithography applied on sapphire substrate for producing submicron patterns

In this study, the combined technologies of dual-layer photoresist complimentary lithography (DPCL), inductively coupled plasma-reactive ion etching and laser direct-write lithography are applied to produce the submicron patterns on sapphire substrates. The inorganic photoresist has almost no resistance for chlorine containing plasma and aqueous acid etching solution. However, the organic photoresist has high resistance for chlorine containing plasma and aqueous acid etching solution. Moreover, the inorganic photoresist is less etched by oxygen plasma etching process. The organic and inorganic photoresist deposit sequentially into a composite photoresist on a substrate. The DPCL takes advantages of the complementary chemical properties of organic and inorganic photoresist. We fabricated two structures with platform and non-platform structure. The non-platform structure featured structural openings, the top and bottom diameters and the depth are approximately 780, 500 and 233 nm, respectively. The platform structure featured structural openings, the top and bottom diameters and the depth are approximately 487, 288 and 203 nm, respectively. The precision submicron or nanoscale patterns of large etched area and patterns with high aspect ratio can be quickly produced by this technique. This technology features a low cost but high yield production technology. It has the potential applications in fabrication of micro-/nanostructures and devices for the optoelectronic industry, semiconductor industry and energy industry.

Plasma parameters and mechanisms of GaAs reactive plasma etching in mixtures of HCl with argon and chlorine

The plasma parameters and mechanisms of gallium arsenide (GaAs) reactive plasma etching in HCl-Ar and HCl-Cl2 mixtures under constant-current glow discharge conditions were investigated. The mathematical simulation of plasma helped to establish that the dilution of HCl with argon or chlorine results in opposite changes in the flux densities of chlorine atoms and ions. It was shown that variation in the GaAs etching rate in the HCl-Ar mixture corresponds to a change in the density of the chlorine atomic flux density on the surface. It was suggested that the nonmonotonic dependence of the etch rate upon the HCl-Cl2 mixture composition is caused by a change of the etching regime (its limiting stage) when the degree of coverage of the processed surface with the interaction of products varies.