Plasma etching

Bibliography
1. B. Chapman, Glow discharge processes, (Wiley, New York, 1980).
- Classical plasma processing of etching and sputtering
2. D. M. Manos and D. L. Flamm, Plasma etching; An introduction,
(Academic, Boston, 1989).
- Most helpful textbook for the researcher majoring the dry etching.
3. M. Sugawara, Plasma etching; Fundamentals and applications,
(Oxford Univ. Press, New York, 1998).
- Mostly dedicated to the high density plasma sources such as ICP and ECR
4. W. N. G. Hitchon, Plasma processes for semiconductor fabrication,
(Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1999)
- Theoretical approach to the plasma etching and plasma deposition process
5. R. J. Shul and S. J. Pearton, Handbook of advanced plasma processing techniques,
(Springer, Heidelberg, 2000).
- Helpful textbook for the researcher in the field of compound semiconductor process
6. http://newton.hanyang.ac.kr/plasma/
- Dedicated to the plasma physics for graduate student in physics
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Contents
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Introduction
What is plasma??
Reaction processes in plasma
Mechanism of plasma etching
Dry etch reactor
Process requirement of dry etching
In-situ diagnostic method of plasma etch
Device damage from plasma
Case study
9.1 Silicon etch
9.2 Metal etch
9.3 GaAs and InP etch
9.4 GaN and related material etch
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7. 1. Introduction

Etch
removal of unwanted area during the fabrication of
semiconductor
Etching is the most important step in the fabrication of
semiconductor devices along with a lithography technique.

InP via-hole etched by RIE

GaAs laser-facet etched by ICP

InGaN mesa for LED

etched by ICP

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Dry etching by using plasma.

Anisotropic feature profile Fig. 2 (c) and (d)

High aspect ratio etching Fig. 1

Wet etching by using wet chemical solution.

Isotropic feature profile Fig. 2 (a)

Low aspect ratio etching

Figure 1

Figure 2
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Advantage of plasma etching

Etching can be anisotropic
Less consumption of chemicals; cost, environment impact
Clean process (vacuum)
Compatible with automation
Precise pattern transfer

Deep silicon etching for sensor application

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Formation of sheath region

The fast-moving electrons hit
the wall before the ions do and
some stick to the wall.
The wall charges up negatively
and this negative charge pushes
other electrons away at the
same time as attracting positive
ions.
The field near the wall holds the
electrons away from the wall
and accelerates the positive
ions toward the wall.
High energy ion bombardment
cf) Generally, the voltage drop couldnt be measured. In practice process
engineers usually monitor the dc potential (relative to ground) of the electrode
instead, which is called dc-bias.
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Processes in the sheath region

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7. 4. Mechanism of plasma etching

7. 4. 1. Etch mechanism

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

Physical sputtering - purely

physical process by energetic ion
bombardment
Chemical etching - purely chemical
process by forming volatile byproduct through chemical reaction
between substrate and active
radicals in plasma
Accelerated ion-enhanced etching chemical etching + physical
etching: removal of volatile product
is accelerated by energetic ion
bombardment
Sidewall-protected (inhibitor driven)
ion-enhanced etching deposition
of etch-resistant layer with ion
bombardment isotropic etching
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7. 4. 2. Sequential steps in etching

cf) If any of these steps fails to occur,

the overall etch cycle ceases and the step
failed is a rate-limiting step

Formation of active etchant by

electron collisions
Transport of active etchant to the
wafer surface
Adsorption of etchant to wafer surface
Reaction of etchant and wafer to form
etch-product
Desorption of etch-product form the
wafer surface
Acceleration of desorption of etchproduct by ion bombardment
Transport of etch-product to the bulk
plasma
Redissociation of etch-product in the
plasma or pumped out
Redeposited on the reactor wall or
pumped out
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7. 4. 3. Radicals in plasma
Radicals are generated through dissociation and ionization
ex) e + O2 O+ + O* + 2e,
e + CF4 CF3+ + F* + 2e
Radicals are much more abundant than ions in plasma because;
(1) They are generated at a higher rate due to;
- lower threshold energy and ionization is often dissociative
(2) Radicals survive longer than ions

Although the concentration of radicals is much larger than that of

positive ions, the reactive fluxes incident on the surfaces can be
comparable, since ions are moving faster because they have
large energy obtained from the electric field in the sheath.

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7. 4. 4. Volatility and evaporation

Volatility of etch-products is a key distinction between plasma
etching and sputtering.
In general, desorption is a rate-limiting steps in the plasma
etching Highly volatile by-product formation is important.
Evaporation rate of material (a) of molecular weight Ma is
proportional to its vapor pressure, pa, (refer to Chap. II)

Ma
a =

2RT

1
2

pa ,

pa = Ca e H

RT

1
2

M a H RT
a = Ca
e

2RT
The evaporation rate is increased with increasing temperature.
However, plasma etching generally done at room temperature.
formation of volatile product at RT is most important.
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Boiling point of etch product (Si and metal)

Si
(SiO2, Si3N4)

Metal
(Ag, Al, Ti, Au, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni,
Pb, Pt, Ta, W, Zn)

Etch product
SiH4
SiF4
Si2H6
SiHCl3
SiCl4
Si2OCl6
Si2Cl6
AgCl
AlCl3
TiCl4
TiF4
Au2Cl3
Au2Br3
CoCl2
CrO2Cl2
Cr(CO)6
CuCl2
CuBr2
Ni(CO)4
PbCl2
PtF6
TaF5
WF6
(CH3)2Zn
ZnCl2

Boiling point
()
-111.6
-95.7
-15
31.7
56.7
135.5
147
1550
182.7
136.45
284
1050
117
151
655
900
-25
954
69.1
229.5
17
46
756

Comment
Gas at RT
Gas at RT
Gas at RT

Sublimation
Sublimation
Non volatile
Non volatile

Non volatile
Non volatile

Sublimation
Non volatile

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Boiling point of etch product (III-V semiconductor)

III-V semiconductor
(GaAs, InP, GaN)

Etch product
Ga2H6
GaCl3
GaCl2
GaF3
GaBr3
GaI3
(CH3)3Ga
(C2H5)3In
(CH3)3In
InCl3

Boiling point
()
-63
201.3
535
~ 1000
279
< 345
55.7
-32
88
418

InBr3
AsH3
AsF5
AsF3
AsCl3
AsBr3
PF3
PH3
PF5
PCl5
NCl3
NF3
NI3
NH3
N2
(CH3)3N

371
-54.8
-52.9
63
130.4
221
-101
-88
-75
62
< 71
-129
-33
-196
-33

Comment
Gas at RT

Gas at RT
Sublimation
Sublimation
Gas at RT
Gas at RT

Gas at RT
Gas at RT
Gas at RT

Gas at RT
Explode
Gas at RT
Gas at RT
Gas at RT

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Examples that show extremely low etch rate.

Etch Al in fluorine-based gas : AlF3 is not volatile

Etch Ni in chlorine-based gas : NiCl2 is not volatile
Etch Al2O3 in Cl2 plasma:
Al2O3 + Cl2 AlCl3 + O2
(Uphill thermodynamically, but etched with UV laser
irradiation)
Etch SiO2 in Cl2 plasma: Uphill thermodynamically, but
etched with energetic ion bombardment.

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Typical gases used for plasma etching

n type Si

Feed gas

Mechanism

Cl2

Chemical

Cl2/C2F6
SiCl4

Ion-inhibitor

Selective to
SiO2

Cl2
Si

CCl4/O2

Ion-energetic

SiO2

Ion inhibitor
/energetic

SiO2, some resist,

Si3N4

SiCl4/O2
Sl2/SiCl4
Al

Cl2/CCl4
Cl2/CHCl3
Cl2/BCl3
Cl2

Chemical

Cl2/BCl3
III-V semiconductor

Cl2/CH4
Cl2/CCl4

Ion-inhibitor

SiO2, resist

CCl4/ O2
SiCl4/O2
III-V semiconductor
Without Al

Cl2/O2

Chemical

CF2Cl2

Ion-inhibitor

Al-containing alloy,
SiO2

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7. 5. Dry etch method and reactor type

7.5.1. Dry etch method
Plasma method
Plasma etching (PE)
(b) Reactivel ion etching (RIE)
(c) High density plasma etching: Electron cyclotron resonance
etching (ECR) and inductively coupled plasma etching (ICP)
(a)

Ion beam method

Ion beam etching (IBE)
(b) Reactive ion beam etching (RIBE)
(c) Chemically-assisted ion beam etching (CAIBE)
(a)

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Detailed characteristics of dry etching technique

Parameter

PE

RIE

MERIE

ICP

ECR

IBE
(sputter)

frequency

13.56MHz

13.56MHz

13.56MHz

13.56MHz

2.45GHz

0.1 ~ 10

0.01 ~ 0.1

0.01

~8

~8

~5

~ 3e8 -3

~ 1e10-3

~5e10-3

~5e11-3

~5e11-3

Grounded
electrode
25 ~
100 V

Powered
electrode
250 ~
500 V

Powered
electrode
0~
1000 V

Powered
electrode
0~
1000 V

Powered
electrode
500 ~
2000 V

Not
Controllable

Not
Controllable

Powered
electrode
400 ~
1000 V
Not
controllable

Controllable

Controllable

Controllable

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Selectivity

Excellent

Good

Good

Good

Good

Poor

Anisotropy

poor

Good

Good

Good

Good

Excellent

Pressure
(torr)
Te (eV)
Plasma
density
Wafer
location
Ion voltage
Ion energy
Chemical
reaction
Physical
reaction

0.001
~ 0.01
~4

0.001
~ 0.01
~4

0.001 ~ 0.1

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Comparison of dry etching technique

advantage

disadvantage

RIE

economical

slow etch rate,

plasma damage

CAIBE

Relatively fast etch

rate

low versatility

ECR

fast etch rate

high price,
low scalability

ICP

fast etch rate,

low plasma damage

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7. 5. 2. Reactor types of dry etch

(a) Plasma etching (PE) and Reactive ion etch (RIE)

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Plasma etching (PE)

Same reactor geometry as PECVD system

Low ion bombardment energy due to the low sheath voltage
drop sample was loaded on the grounded electrode (anode)
Mainly chemical reactions and negligible physical etching
Isotropic etch profile
At relatively high pressure: 0.1 ~ 10 Torr

Reactive ion etch (RIE)

Combination of chemical activity of reactive radicals with

physical effects due to high sheath drop sample was loaded
on the powered electrode (cathode)
Ion bombardment strongly enhances the chemical process
Anisotropic etch profile due to ion bombardment
Lower operation pressure of 0.01 ~ 0.1 Torr
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(b) Magnetically enhanced reactive ion etching (MERIE)

Reduce the plasma loss on the chamber wall using magnetic field by
electromagnet bucket
Electron collisional efficiency increase by interaction of E and B field
Substrate rotation for uniformity increase
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(c) Electron Cyclotron Resonance etching

z
Quartz window
Magnet

Plasma
generation

ER

Circularly polarized wave

F = e( E + V B )

Electron cyclotron motion

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ECR: One of the high density plasma source (5 x 1011 -3)

ECR: Plasma generation by combining microwave(2.45 GHz) and the

magnetic field by additional magnet.
Plasma generation mechanism
Microwave (2.45 GHz) is introduced into reaction chamber through quartz
window
Magnetic field is generated in the reaction chamber by magnet (permanent
or electro magnetic)
Electrons rotate around the magnetic line of force with the electron
cyclotron angular frequency of c:
eB
c =
me

When the electric field E of microwave is perpendicular to the magnetic

field and the circular wave of magnetic field satisfies = c, electrons are
continuously accelerated by the electric filed of the microwave, obtaining
high energy, and then ionizing the gas molecules by collisions.
If microwave of 2.45 GHz are used, the ECR takes place at the magnetic
field flux density of 875 G.
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(d) Inductively coupled plasma

13.56 MHz currents pass through ICP coil

Z

RF magnetic field formation along z axis

Induction of vortex electric field

Electrons oscillation

Increase of electron collision efficiency

More effective plasma generation than

conventional RIE high radical density
Electrostatic shield configuration eliminates
capacitive coupling
Independent ion energy control by table
power
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Types of Inductively coupled plasma

Cylindrical type ICP

Contamination-free geometry

Planar type ICP

Contamination of wafer by
sputtering of window material.
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Inductively Coupled Plasma in K-JIST

Laser interferometer on chamber-top

Optical emission spectroscopy through
sidewall window
Electrostatic shield btw quartz and coil ICP/PECVD cluster tool in K-JIST
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(e) Ion beam-based reactor

IBE inert gas ion (Ar+) formation in
external RF ion source and extracted
to the reaction chamber by
acceleration electrode (grid).
RIBE reactive gas besides inert gas
ions are extracted from the external
source to the reaction chamber. Etch
rate is increased by the additional
chemical reaction
CAIBE inert gas ion (Ar+) are
extracted from the external source
and the reactive gas are
independently supplied to the wafer
surface through shower-ring just
above the wafer.
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