Inductively coupled plasma etching of bulk 6H-SiC and thin-film SiCN in NF{sub 3} chemistries
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611 (United States)
- Royal Institute of Technology, Kista (Sweden)
- New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, New Jersey 07102 (United States)
- Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies, Murray Hill, New Jersey 07974 (United States)
- Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185 (United States)
A parametric study of the etching characteristics of 6H p{sup +} and n{sup +} SiC and thin-film SiC{sub 0.5}N{sub 0.5} in inductively coupled plasma (ICP) NF{sub 3}/O{sub 2} and NF{sub 3}/Ar discharges has been performed. The etch rates in both chemistries increase monotonically with NF{sub 3} percentage and rf chuck power. The etch rates go through a maximum with increasing ICP source power, which is explained by a trade-off between the increasing ion flux and the decreasing ion energy. The anisotropy of the etched features is also a function of ion flux, ion energy and atomic fluorine neutral concentration. Indium-tin-oxide masks display relatively good etch selectivity over SiC (maximum of {approximately}70:1), while photoresist etches more rapidly than SiC. The surface roughness of SiC is essentially independent of plasma composition for NF{sub 3}/O{sub 2} discharges, while extensive surface degradation occurs for SiCN under high NF{sub 3}:O{sub 2} conditions. {copyright} {ital 1998 American Vacuum Society.}
- OSTI ID:
- 638758
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology, A, Vol. 16, Issue 4; Other Information: PBD: Jul 1998
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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