Addition of oxygen was used to control the in-plasma photo-assisted etching (PAE) of p-type Si(100) and poly-Si in a high density, inductively coupled, Faraday-shielded, Ar/Cl2 (225/25 SCCM), 60 mTorr plasma. After etching, samples were transferred under vacuum to an UHV x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy chamber for surface analysis. Samples etched under PAE conditions (ion energies below the ion-assisted etching, IAE, threshold) had a thicker surface oxide and lower [Cl] surface concentration, when compared to samples etched under IAE conditions (ion energies above the IAE threshold). PAE was found not to be affected by 0.1 or 0.25 SCCM O2 addition, while etching stopped with more than 0.5 SCCM O2 addition. IAE with RF power on the sample stage, resulting in −65 V self-bias, was not affected by up to 2 SCCM of oxygen addition but decreased rapidly when more than 5 SCCM O2 was added to the plasma. These results imply that PAE may be completely suppressed, while IAE occurs unobstructed. The implications of these findings are discussed in view of applications involving continuous wave and pulsed-plasma processes.
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September 2020
Research Article|
July 30 2020
Effects of O2 addition on in-plasma photo-assisted etching of Si with chlorine
Special Collection:
Special Topic Collection Commemorating the Career of John Coburn
Linfeng Du;
Linfeng Du
Plasma Processing Laboratory, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Houston
, Houston, Texas 77204
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Emilia W. Hirsch;
Emilia W. Hirsch
Plasma Processing Laboratory, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Houston
, Houston, Texas 77204
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Demetre J. Economou;
Plasma Processing Laboratory, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Houston
, Houston, Texas 77204
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Vincent M. Donnelly
Plasma Processing Laboratory, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Houston
, Houston, Texas 77204
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Electronic mail: [email protected]
b)
Electronic mail: [email protected]
Note: This paper is part of the Special Topic Collection Commemorating the Career of John Coburn.
J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 38, 053003 (2020)
Article history
Received:
May 14 2020
Accepted:
July 10 2020
Citation
Linfeng Du, Emilia W. Hirsch, Demetre J. Economou, Vincent M. Donnelly; Effects of O2 addition on in-plasma photo-assisted etching of Si with chlorine. J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 1 September 2020; 38 (5): 053003. https://doi.org/10.1116/6.0000338
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