Dry Etching Overview

What is dry etching?

– Material removal reactions occur in the gas phase.
Dry Etching Types of dry etching
– Non-plasma based dry etching
– Plasma based dry etching
Prof. Tianhong Cui, Mechanical Engineering
Why dry etching?
ME 8254
Development of dry etching
Plasma parameters/influences
Deep Reactive Ion Etching

Dry Etching Advantages Dry Etching

Eliminates handling of dangerous acids and solvents
Uses small amounts of chemicals
Isotropic or anisotropic etch profiles
Directional etching without using the crystal orientation of Si
Faithfully transfer lithographically defined photoresist patterns
into underlying layers
High resolution and cleanliness
Less undercutting
No unintentional prolongation of etching
Better process control
Ease of automation (e.g., cassette loading)
Disadvantages:
– Some gases are quite toxic and corrosive
– Re-deposition of non-volatile compounds
– Need for specialized (expensive) equipment
Types:
– Non-plasma based = uses spontaneous reaction
of appropriate reactive gas mixture
– Plasma based = uses radio frequency (RF)
power to drive chemical reaction

Non-
Non-plasma Based Dry Xenon Difluoride (XeF2)
Etching Etching
Isotropic etching of Si
Isotropic etching of Si
High selectivity for Al, SiO2, Si3N4, PR,
Typically fluorine-containing gases
PSG
(fluorides or interhalogens) that readily etch
Si 2XeF2 + Si 2Xe + SiF4
High selectivity to masking layers Typical etch rates of 1 to 3 µm/min
No need for plasma processing equipment Heat is generated during exothermic
reaction
Highly controllable via temperature and
partial pressure of reactants XeF2 reacts with water (or vapor) to form
HF

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 Interhalogen (BrF3 & ClF3) Plasma Based Dry Etching
Etching RF power is used to drive chemical
Nearly isotropic profile reactions
Gases react with Si to form SiF4 Plasma takes place of elevated temperatures
Surface roughness: ~40 to 150 nm or very reactive chemicals
Masks: SiO2, Si3N4, PR, Al, Cu, Au, and Ni Types:
– Physical etching
– Chemical etching
– Reactive ion etching (RIE)
– Deep reactive ion etching (DRIE)

Plasma Plasma Formation

Plasma = partially ionized gas consisting of equal
numbers of “+” (ions) and “-“ (electrons) charges and Chamber is evacuated
a different number of neutral (un-ionized) molecules
Chamber is filled with gas(es)
An ion-electron pair is continuously created by
ionization and destroyed by recombination RF energy is applied to a pair of electrodes
Typical kinetic energy (KE) of an electron in plasma is Applied energy accelerates electrons
2-8 eV increasing kinetic energy
KE = ½ mV2 = 3/2 kT 2 eV electron has
– m = particle mass Electrons collide with neutral gas
T ≈ 15,000 K molecules, forming ions and more electrons
– V = particle mean velocity
V ≈ 6 x 107 cm/s
– k = Boltzmann constant Steady state is reached (plasma); ionization
= 1,342,16176 mph
– T = temperature (K)
= recombination

Plasma Formation Plasma Parameters

Plasma discharge is characterized by central glow Temperature Power
or bulk region and dark or sheath regions near – Etching rate
– Ion density
electrodes – Ion kinetic energy
– Spontaneous chemical
Bulk region = semi-neutral (nearly equal number reaction
of electrons and ions) – Etching directivity Other variables
Sheath regions = nearly all of the potential drop; – Gas flow rate
accelerates “+” ions from bulk region which Pressure – Reactor materials
bombard the substrate – Ion density – Reactor cleanliness
Maintained at 1 Pa (75 mtorr) to 750 Pa (56 torr) – Ion directivity – Loading
with gas density of 27 x 1014 to 2 x 1017 (microloading)
molecules/cm3 – Mask materials

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 Physical Etching (Sputter
Etching) Two Basic Plasma Systems
Based on physical bombardment with ions or atoms
Plasma is used to energize a chemically inert projectile so
that it moves at high velocity when it strikes the substrate
Momentum is transferred during the collision
Substrate atoms are dislodged if projectile energy exceeds
bonding energy
Very similar to ion implantation, but low-energy ions are
used to avoid implantation damage
Highly anisotropic
Etch rates for most materials are comparable (ie, no
masking)
Argon is the most commonly used ion source
May result in re-deposition

Chemical (Plasma) Etching:

Plasma Etching Steps
Plasma is used to produce chemically reactive
species (atoms, radicals, and ions) from inert
molecular gas
Six major steps:
– Generation of reactive species (eg, free radicals)
– Diffusion to surface
– Adsorption on surface
– Chemical reaction
– Desorption of by-products
– Diffusion into bulk gas
Production of gaseous by-products is extremely
important

Plasma Etching Systems Reactive Ion Etching (RIE)

Plasma Etching RIE = process in which chemical etching is
(PE) accompanied by ionic bombardment (ie ion-
Barrel, barrel with assisted etching)
downstream and Bombardment opens areas for reactions
symmetrical Ionic bombardment:
parallel plate
– No undercutting since side-walls are not
system exposed
Pure chemical – Greatly increased etch rate
etching – Structural degradation
Isotropic etching – Lower selectivity

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 RIE System Disadvantages of RIE
• Conflict between etching rate and anisotropic
Reactive Ion Etching (RIE)
Asymmetrical parallel
profile
plate system – Etching rate (+) → Reactive species
concentration (+) → Gas pressure (+) →
Plasma, sheath and Collision (+) → Anisotropic (-)
boundary layer
• Conflict between damage of high etching
Combination of physical
and chemical etching rate and anisotropic profile
Anisotropic etching – KE (+) → Etching rate (+) → damage (+)

Deep Reactive Ion Etching

ECR Systems
(DRIE)
Uses electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) Electron Cyclotron
source to supplement RIE system Resonance (ECR)
Higher plasma density
Microwave power at 245 GHz is coupled at lower pressure
into ECR Control the density of
the reactive ions and
Magnetic field is used to enhance transfer of their kinetic energy
separately
microwave energy to resonating electrons
Downstream of
DRIE uses lower energy ions less plasma further limits
the exposure to reduce
damage and higher selectivity damage
Plasma maintained at 0.5 to 3 mtorr

ICP System (DRIE) Deep Reactive Ion Etching

Inductively Coupled
• high density ICP plasma
Plasma (ICP)
• high aspect ratio Si structures
Simple system • cost: $500K
Almost same process • vendors: STS, Alcatel, PlasmaTherm
result as that from the Source: LucasNova

ECR system
Two RF power
generators to control
ion energy and ion
density separately
Source: STS Source: STS Source: AMMI

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 Etch Chemistries
Etch Chemistries Oxide and Nitride Films
– Fluorine plasma is required (eg, CF4)
Organic Films
– Mask: PR
– Oxygen plasma is required
– Addition of O2
– By-products: CO, CO2, H2O
Increases etch rate
– Masks: Si, SiO2, Al, or Ti Adjusts PR : oxide and PR : nitride selectivity
– Addition of fluorine containing gases Silicon
significantly increases etch rate but decreases
selectivity (due to HF formation) – Fluorine plasma (CF 4 or SF6)
– Chlorine plasma (Cl2)
– Mixed (fluorine and chlorine) plasma (Cl2 + SF6)

Ultra- High Etch Rate Process

Process-ICP (ALCATEL) Wafer Size

Feature width
Etch depth
125 mm
100 µm
200 µm
Etch Time 20 min
Mask Resist
Si etch rate 10 µm/min
Mask selectivity > 250 : 1
Uniformity < +/- 5 %
Profile 89 Degrees
Undercut< 1 % depth
Process regime Room Temp

1-High Etch Rate

Ultra- High Etch Rate Process

Process-ICP
Wafer Size 125 mm
Etch depth 200 µm
Etch Time 20 min
Mask Resist
Si etch rate 10 µm/min
Mask selectivity > 250 : 1
Uniformity < +/- 5 %
Profile 89 Degrees
Undercut< 1 % depth
Process regime Room Temp
2-High Aspect Ratio

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 High Aspect Ratio High Aspect Ratio Trench Etch
Wafer diameter 100 mm
Feature width 3.5 µm
Etch depth 85 µm
Etch time 30 min
Mask Oxide Wafer size 100 mm
Si etch rate 2.8 µm/min Trench width 2 µm
Mask selectivity > 200 : 1 Etch depth 100 µm
Uniformity < +/- 5 % Aspect ratio 50 : 1
Profile 89 Degrees Etch time 40 min
Undercut0.3 µm Mask Photoresist
Process regime Room Temp Si etch rate 2.5 µm/min
Mask selectivity > 100 : 1
Profile 89-90
Degrees
Process regime Room Temp

Wide beam 1 µm
Etch depth 90 µm
Si etch rate 1.6 µm/min
Aspect ratio 90 : 1

Micro-Gears as Micro-Mechanical Components

Process-ICP Wafer size

Etch depth
Mask
100 mm
400 µm
Oxide
Si etch rate 3.7 µm/min
Mask selectivity > 400 : 1
Profile 90+/- 2
Degrees
Process regime Low temp

3-Through the Wafer

Bulk Micromachined Spring Bulk Micromachined Spring

(Through-the-wafer etch) (Through-the-wafer etch)

Courtesy : Case Western Reserve University Courtesy : Case Western Reserve University

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 SOI etch with different feature sizes

Process-ICP 1.2 mm & >30 mm wide trenches

6 mm thick Si etch stopping

on buried oxide
20 % overetch

4-Various
SOI Wafer Size
Etch Time
125 mm
20 min
Mask Resist
Tapered Si etch rate
Mask selectivity
3 µm/min
> 100 : 1

Isotropic Etch Uniformity

Profile
< +/- 5 %
90 Degrees
Process regime Room Temp

Tapered profiles for SOI Trench Isolation Intentional Isotropic Etch

Wafer size 150 mm

Etch depth 250 µm
Si etch rate 4.3
µm/min
Mask Oxide
Feature width 2 µm Mask selectivity > 250 : 1
Etch depth 20-50 µm Mask undercut 100 µm
Mask Resist Profile Isotropic
20 µm deep 30 µm deep Si etch rate 3.5 µm/min
Mask selectivity > 100 : 1
Profile 87-89
Degrees
Undercut< 0.2 µm Intentional isotropic plasma
Process regime Room Temp etching can be easily obtained in
the same process chamber just
by changing process conditions.

40 µm deep 50 µm deep

Problems and Solutions

Trench Area Dependent Etching of Profiles
Some Real Pictures
Bowing
RIE lag
Micro grass
Bottling
Tilting