An introduction to plasma etching for VLSI circuit technology

In this review article, various aspects of plasma etching for very large scale integrated (VLSI) circuit technology are presented. The motivation for using plasma etching and the advantages of this dry etching technique over wet etching are discussed. Principal reactor designs are described and key VLSI materials involved in etching are highlighted. Applications for pattern definition of gate electrodes, contacts, vias, and metallic interconnects are presented. Emphasis is placed on etching rates, uniformity, anisotropy, selectivity, and critical dimension control. The potentially damaging effects of plasma processing on gate oxide are also briefly reviewed.