FLUORINATED POLYIMIDE FABRICATION BY MAGNETICALLY CONTROLLED REACTIVE ION ETCHING (MC RIE)

This paper describes the etching rates and morphologies of etched surfaces of fluorinated polyimides having fluorine concentrations, when a magnetic field parallel to the cathode surface was varied during magnetically controlled reactive ion etching (MC RIE). The fluorine concentration of fluorinated polyimides is a key parameter used to control the etching rate in MC RIE and the etching rate can also be increased by applying a high magnetic field. The etching rate was maximum when the fluorine concentration was 15-23 wt%, and the peaks became sharper as the magnetic field increased. The surface morphology also became smoother with increasing magnetic field, and SEM observation revealed that the surface morphology of 23 wt% fluorine polyimide was smoothest when a high etching rate and a high magnetic field were used.