Observation of inverse reactive ion etching lag for silicon dioxide etching in inductively coupled plasmas

被引:53
作者
Doemling, MF
Rueger, NR
Oehrlein, GS
机构
[1] Department of Physics, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY 12222
关键词
D O I
10.1063/1.116772
中图分类号
O59 [应用物理学];
学科分类号
摘要
The slowdown of the oxide etch rate with width of submicrometer structures is known as reactive ion etching (RIE) lag and has been explained by ion shadowing and differential charging of the sidewalls, among other effects [R. A. Gottscho and co-workers, J. Vac. Sci, Technol, B 10, 2133 (1992)]. Here we show for an inductively coupled high density plasma reactor working in the pressure regime from 6 to 20 mTorr that inverse RTE lag is primarily observed, i,e., the etch rates increase as the width of the microstructures decrease. Inverse RIE lag, which was first discussed by Vitkavage et al. [Tegal Plasma Proceedings Symposium, San Francisco, 1991 (unpublished)], may be explained by considering the neutral flux distribution at the structure bottom. The neutral flux has a stronger dependence on the aspect ratio than the ion flux due to its isotropic velocity distribution, The neutral flux distribution has been modeled and is consistent with etching profiles observed at high pressure. (C) 1996 American Istitute of Physics.
引用
收藏
页码:10 / 12
页数:3
相关论文
共 10 条
[1]   SCALING OF SI AND GAAS TRENCH ETCH RATES WITH ASPECT RATIO, FEATURE WIDTH, AND SUBSTRATE-TEMPERATURE [J].
BAILEY, AD ;
VANDESANDEN, MCM ;
GREGUS, JA ;
GOTTSCHO, RA .
JOURNAL OF VACUUM SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY B, 1995, 13 (01) :92-104
[2]  
BAILEY AD, 1995, JPN J APPL PHYS 1, V34, P2083
[3]   INVESTIGATION OF SELECTIVE SIO2-TO-SI ETCHING IN AN INDUCTIVELY-COUPLED HIGH-DENSITY PLASMA USING FLUOROCARBON GASES [J].
BELL, FH ;
JOUBERT, O ;
OEHRLEIN, GS ;
ZHANG, Y ;
VENDER, D .
JOURNAL OF VACUUM SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY A, 1994, 12 (06) :3095-3101
[4]  
BOYER P, 1992, UNPUB TEGAL PLASMA P
[5]   MICROSCOPIC UNIFORMITY IN PLASMA-ETCHING [J].
GOTTSCHO, RA ;
JURGENSEN, CW ;
VITKAVAGE, DJ .
JOURNAL OF VACUUM SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY B, 1992, 10 (05) :2133-2147
[6]   ION-TRANSPORT ANISOTROPY IN LOW-PRESSURE, HIGH-DENSITY PLASMAS [J].
GOTTSCHO, RA .
JOURNAL OF VACUUM SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY B, 1993, 11 (05) :1884-1889
[7]   FLUOROCARBON HIGH-DENSITY PLASMA .5. INFLUENCE OF ASPECT RATIO ON THE ETCH RATE OF SILICON DIOXIDE IN AN ELECTRON-CYCLOTRON-RESONANCE PLASMA [J].
JOUBERT, O ;
OEHRLEIN, GS ;
ZHANG, Y .
JOURNAL OF VACUUM SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY A-VACUUM SURFACES AND FILMS, 1994, 12 (03) :658-664
[8]   FLUOROCARBON HIGH-DENSITY PLASMA .6. REACTIVE ION ETCHING LAG MODEL FOR CONTACT HOLE SILICON DIOXIDE ETCHING IN AN ELECTRON-CYCLOTRON-RESONANCE PLASMA [J].
JOUBERT, O ;
OEHRLEIN, GS ;
SURENDRA, M .
JOURNAL OF VACUUM SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY A-VACUUM SURFACES AND FILMS, 1994, 12 (03) :665-670
[9]   NOVEL RADIOFREQUENCY INDUCTION PLASMA PROCESSING TECHNIQUES [J].
KELLER, JH ;
FORSTER, JC ;
BARNES, MS .
JOURNAL OF VACUUM SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY A-VACUUM SURFACES AND FILMS, 1993, 11 (05) :2487-2491
[10]  
WESTERHEIM AC, 1995, J VAC SCI TECHNOL A, V13