Atomic layer etching of Si is reported in a radio frequency (RF) pulsed-power inductively coupled (ICP) plasma, with periodic injections of HBr into a continuous He/Ar carrier gas flow, sometimes with trace added O2. Several pulsing schemes were investigated, with HBr injection simultaneous with or alternating with ICP power. The product removal step was induced by applying RF power to the substrate, in sync with ICP power. Etching and dosing were monitored with optical emission spectroscopy. Little or no chemically enhanced ion-assisted etching was observed unless there was some overlap between HBr in the chamber and ICP power. This indicates that HBr dissociative chemisorption deposits much less Br on Si, compared with that from Br created by dissociation of HBr in the ICP. Chemically assisted etching rates nearly saturate at 2.0 nm/cycle as a function of increasing HBr-containing ICP dose at −75 VDC substrate self-bias. The coupled effects of O2 addition and substrate self-bias DC voltage on the etching rate were also explored. Etching slowed or stopped with increasing O2 addition. As bias power was increased, more O2 could be added before etching stopped.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
July 2024
Research Article|
May 06 2024
Atomic layer etching in HBr/He/Ar/O2 plasmas
Special Collection:
Atomic Layer Etching (ALE)
Qinzhen Hao
;
Qinzhen Hao
(Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing)
1
William A. Brookshire Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Houston
, Houston, Texas 77204
Search for other works by this author on:
Mahmoud A. I. Elgarhy
;
Mahmoud A. I. Elgarhy
(Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Writing – review & editing)
1
William A. Brookshire Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Houston
, Houston, Texas 772042
Physics Department, Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University
, Cairo 11651, Egypt
Search for other works by this author on:
Pilbum Kim
;
Pilbum Kim
(Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Project administration, Writing – review & editing)
3
Mechatronics Research, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
, Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do 18448, South Korea
Search for other works by this author on:
Sang Ki Nam
;
Sang Ki Nam
(Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Project administration, Writing – review & editing)
3
Mechatronics Research, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
, Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do 18448, South Korea
Search for other works by this author on:
Song-Yun Kang
;
Song-Yun Kang
(Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Writing – review & editing)
3
Mechatronics Research, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
, Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do 18448, South Korea
Search for other works by this author on:
Vincent M. Donnelly
Vincent M. Donnelly
a)
(Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing)
1
William A. Brookshire Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Houston
, Houston, Texas 77204
Search for other works by this author on:
a)
Electronic mail: [email protected]
J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 42, 042601 (2024)
Article history
Received:
March 04 2024
Accepted:
April 15 2024
Citation
Qinzhen Hao, Mahmoud A. I. Elgarhy, Pilbum Kim, Sang Ki Nam, Song-Yun Kang, Vincent M. Donnelly; Atomic layer etching in HBr/He/Ar/O2 plasmas. J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 1 July 2024; 42 (4): 042601. https://doi.org/10.1116/6.0003593
Download citation file:
Pay-Per-View Access
$40.00
Sign In
You could not be signed in. Please check your credentials and make sure you have an active account and try again.
Citing articles via
Surface passivation approaches for silicon, germanium, and III–V semiconductors
Roel J. Theeuwes, Wilhelmus M. M. Kessels, et al.
Low-temperature etching of silicon oxide and silicon nitride with hydrogen fluoride
Thorsten Lill, Mingmei Wang, et al.
Low-resistivity molybdenum obtained by atomic layer deposition
Kees van der Zouw, Bernhard Y. van der Wel, et al.
Related Content
Comparisons of atomic layer etching of silicon in Cl2 and HBr-containing plasmas
J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A (December 2024)
Real-time monitoring of atomic layer etching in Cl2/Ar pulsed gas, pulsed power plasmas by optical emission spectroscopy
J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A (April 2023)
Dynamics of plasma atomic layer etching: Molecular dynamics simulations and optical emission spectroscopy
J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A (November 2023)
Chamber wall interactions with HBr/Cl2/O2 plasmas
J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A (May 2015)
Reactor wall effects in Si–Cl2–Ar atomic layer etching
J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A (June 2024)