scholarly journals Doped or Quantum-Dot Layers as In Situ Etch-Stop Indicators for III/V Semiconductor Reactive Ion Etching (RIE) Using Reflectance Anisotropy Spectroscopy (RAS)

Micromachines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 502
Author(s):  
Guilherme Sombrio ◽  
Emerson Oliveira ◽  
Johannes Strassner ◽  
Johannes Richter ◽  
Christoph Doering ◽  
...  

Reflectance anisotropy spectroscopy (RAS), which was originally invented to monitor epitaxial growth, can—as we have previously shown—also be used to monitor the reactive ion etching of III/V semiconductor samples in situ and in real time, as long as the etching rate is not too high and the abrasion at the etch front is not totally chaotic. Moreover, we have proven that—using RAS equipment and optical Fabry‒Perot oscillations due to the ever-shrinking thickness of the uppermost etched layer—the in situ etch-depth resolution can be as good as ±0.8 nm, employing a Vernier-scale type measurement and evaluation procedure. Nominally, this amounts to ±1.3 lattice constants in our exemplary material system, AlGaAsSb, on a GaAs or GaSb substrate. In this contribution, we show that resolutions of about ±5.6 nm can be reliably achieved without a Vernier scale protocol by employing thin doped layers or sharp interfaces between differently doped layers or quantum-dot (QD) layers as etch-stop indicators. These indicator layers can either be added to the device layer design on purpose or be part of it incidentally due to the functionality of the device. For typical etch rates in the range of 0.7 to 1.3 nm/s (that is, about 40 to 80 nm/min), the RAS spectrum will show a distinct change even for very thin indicator layers, which allows for the precise termination of the etch run.

1993 ◽  
Vol 310 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. F. Baude ◽  
C. Ye ◽  
D.L. Polla

AbstractWet chemical, reactive ion etching and reactive ion-beam etching of sol-gel prepared PZT (54/46) [Pb(Zr,Ti)O3], Lanthanum doped PZT [PLZT (9/65/35)] and LiTaO3 have been investigated. Wet chemical etching using an HCI-HF solution, reactive-ion etching using a SF6 plasma and chemically assisted ion-beam etching (CAIBE) using a xenon plasma and chlorine reactive gas were used. Etch rates for each method were determined and the ability to define small features in the thin film ferroelectric was investigated. It was found that for structures smaller than approximately 20 × 20 μm2, chemically assisted ion beam etching provided by far the best results. 3 × 3 μm2 capacitor and 2 μm wide optical waveguide structures in PZT, PLZT respectively, were successfully fabricated using a CAIBE system. An etch depth monitor enabled accurate in-situ etch rate monitoring of the PLZT and PZT thin films.


1997 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Hankinson ◽  
T. Vincent ◽  
K.B. Irani ◽  
P.P. Khargonekar

Author(s):  
Aleksandr M. Efremov ◽  
Vladimir V. Rybkin ◽  
Vladimir B. Betelin ◽  
Kwang-Ho Kwon

The effects of both HBr/O2 and Cl2/O2 mixing ratios in HBr+Cl2+O2 gas mixture on plasma parameters, steady-state densities of active species and Si etching kinetics were studied under the typical conditions of reactive ion etching process: total gas pressure (p = 10 mTorr), input power (W = 500 W), bias power (Wdc = 200 W). The data on internal plasma parameters and plasma chemistry were obtained using a combination of Langmuir probe diagnostics and 0-dimensional (global) plasma modeling. It was found that the variation in HBr/O2 mixing ratio at constant Cl2 fraction in a feed gas is characterized by the stronger impact on the steady-state plasma composition through both electron-impact and atom-molecular reaction kinetics as well as allows one to obtain the wider change in the total halogen atom density. It was shown that changes in both HBr/O2 and Cl2/O2 mixing ratios toward O2-rich plasmas lowers the Si etching rate that exhibits no evident correlations with total halogen atom flux and ion energy flux. The model-based analysis of Si etching kinetics allowed one to conclude that the effective reaction probability for Si + Cl/Br heterogeneous reaction depends on the flux of oxidative species – oxygen atoms and OH radicals. The reasons may be 1) the oxidation of silicon resulting in higher reaction threshold energy; and 2) the decreasing fraction of free adsorption sites for Cl/Br atoms due to the oxidation of reaction products into the lower volatile SiBrxOy and SiClxOy compounds.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 123
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Racka-Szmidt ◽  
Bartłomiej Stonio ◽  
Jarosław Żelazko ◽  
Maciej Filipiak ◽  
Mariusz Sochacki

The inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching (ICP-RIE) is a selective dry etching method used in fabrication technology of various semiconductor devices. The etching is used to form non-planar microstructures—trenches or mesa structures, and tilted sidewalls with a controlled angle. The ICP-RIE method combining a high finishing accuracy and reproducibility is excellent for etching hard materials, such as SiC, GaN or diamond. The paper presents a review of silicon carbide etching—principles of the ICP-RIE method, the results of SiC etching and undesired phenomena of the ICP-RIE process are presented. The article includes SEM photos and experimental results obtained from different ICP-RIE processes. The influence of O2 addition to the SF6 plasma as well as the change of both RIE and ICP power on the etching rate of the Cr mask used in processes and on the selectivity of SiC/Cr etching are reported for the first time. SiC is an attractive semiconductor with many excellent properties, that can bring huge potential benefits thorough advances in submicron semiconductor processing technology. Recently, there has been an interest in SiC due to its potential wide application in power electronics, in particular in automotive, renewable energy and rail transport.


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