Kinetics and modeling of wet etching of aluminum oxide by warm phosphoric acid

Journal Article · Wed Jan 31 23:00:00 EST 1996 · Journal of the Electrochemical Society

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1149/1.1836489· OSTI ID:212167

Zhou, B; Ramirez, W F ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States). Dept. of Chemical Engineering

Aluminum oxide has been used widely in the microelectronic industry for dielectric films. Etching kinetics of vacuum sputtered aluminum oxide films by warm phosphoric acid is studied. The etch rate is found to be constant when the concentration and temperature of the etchant are fixed and the films being etched come from the same deposition batch. Etch rates obtained at different etchant concentrations show that over the industrial range of interest, the kinetics are first order in the hydrogen ion concentration which is a limiting form of a more general site model. Experiments of varying the etching temperature lead to the conclusion that the process is reaction controlled.

• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• OSTI ID: 212167
• Journal Information: Journal of the Electrochemical Society, Journal Name: Journal of the Electrochemical Society Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 143; ISSN JESOAN; ISSN 0013-4651
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ALUMINIUM OXIDES
CHEMICAL REACTION KINETICS
DIELECTRIC MATERIALS
DISSOLUTION
ETCHING
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
PHOSPHORIC ACID