A study was made to find a low-cost and robust etching solution for silicon carbide (SiC) using a commercially available inductively coupled plasma etching tool. Sulfur hexafluoride was selected because of its high degree of F dissociation and nonhazardous nature. A parametric study of the etching characteristics of poly-SiC in inductively coupled plasma (ICP) chemistries was performed. Etch chemistry was found to greatly affect etch rate, selectivity, and the postetch surface condition. Etch rates as high as were achieved with high selectivity (36) using a gas mixture, but the etched surface was relatively rough (134 Å rms). He addition was found to increase the SiC etch rate, and this effect is believed to be caused by increased ionization of in the plasma and the resulting increases in the and fluorine (F) radical concentrations. The formation of pillar-like structures and sidewall deposition was observed on the etched SiC surfaces under some conditions. These unwanted etch byproducts exhibited a high concentration of chromium (Cr) and fluorine. However, an argon (Ar) plasma preclean of the substrate, high ICP, and/or bias powers, and addition reduced the pillar formation significantly.
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July 2005
Research Article|
June 27 2005
Inductively coupled plasma etching of poly-SiC in chemistries
S. H. Kuah;
S. H. Kuah
a)
SAMCO Inc.
, Suite 5, 532 Weddell Drive, Sunnyvale, California 94089
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P. C. Wood
P. C. Wood
SAMCO Inc.
, Suite 5, 532 Weddell Drive, Sunnyvale, California 94089
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a)
Electronic mail: skuah@samcointl.com
J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 23, 947–952 (2005)
Article history
Received:
October 04 2004
Accepted:
March 14 2005
Citation
S. H. Kuah, P. C. Wood; Inductively coupled plasma etching of poly-SiC in chemistries. J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 1 July 2005; 23 (4): 947–952. https://doi.org/10.1116/1.1913682
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