Dry etching of electronic oxides, polymers, and semiconductors

A review is given of commonly used plasma etching techniques and typical plasma chemistries for patterning electronic oxides, such as SiO2, HfO2, MgO, Sc2O3, and ZnO, polymers, and several important semiconductors (Si, GaAs, and InP). Issues that affect the reproducibility and manufacturability of etching processes, such as loading effects, endpoint detection, and etch selectivity, are also discussed. Finally, disruption to the etched surface in the form of polymer deposition, plasma residues, ion-induced displacement damage, or preferential loss of one of the lattice elements during the etch process are covered.