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Reactive ion beam etching: Dissociation of molecular ions upon impact

Journal Article · · J. Vac. Sci. Technol., B; (United States)
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1116/1.582912· OSTI ID:5093718
This paper reports on etch yield measurements on Au films by ion beams generated from Ar, Ne, O/sub 2/, N/sub 2/, CF/sub 4/, and C/sub 2/F/sub 6/ in a Kaufman-type ion gun for ion energies between 0.2 and 1.4 keV. Ions and neutral species emanating from the gun are characterized by mass spectrometry. For CF/sub 4/ and C/sub 2/F/sub 6/ the ion composition is a strong function of the magnetic field in the gun, CF/sup +//sub 3/ being the major ion only for CF/sub 4/ at low magnetic field. The physical etch yield of CF/sup +//sub 3/ is found to be close to that of Ne/sup +/, not Ar/sup +/. The results on the dependence of the etch yields on ion mass, ion energy, and incident angle can be correlated quantitatively by assuming complete dissociation of molecular ions upon impact on the substrate. The same model is also shown to explain the data by Tachi et al. on etching Si by mass-selected ions of the form CF/sup +//sub x/ and BF/sup +//sub x/. The implications of these results for plasma and reactive ion etching are discussed.
Research Organization:
RCA Laboratories Ltd., Badenerstrasse 569, CH-8048 Zuerich, Switzerland
OSTI ID:
5093718
Journal Information:
J. Vac. Sci. Technol., B; (United States), Journal Name: J. Vac. Sci. Technol., B; (United States) Vol. 2:1; ISSN JVTBD
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English