DRY ETCHING + Remove the materials by chemical reactions using chemical reactive gases or plasma, by purely physical methods (e.g., sputtering and ion beam-induced etching), or with a combination of both chemical reaction and physical bombardment (e.g,, reactive ion etching). * Conventional dry etching by ions is slow in rates at about 0.1 pni/min, but plasma etching may increase this rate to 2 ym/min.DRY ETCHING Plasma = Plasma is a partially ionized gas composed of equal numbers of positive and negative charges, as well as some neutral molecules. = Plasma can be generated by applying a strong radio frequency (RF) electromagnetic field to a gas, which breaks down gas molecules and generates ions, free radicals, electrons, photons and reaction by-products such as ozone. = Since these reactive species have high energy, they create highly active and low-temperature plasma which can etch materials precisely and efficiently.DRY ETCHING Plasma etching-The working principle: * Plasma etching operateson both high kineticenergy and chemical reactions between neutrals (N) and the substrate materials. = Thereactive gas, e.g. CC2,F, in the carrier gas ions produces reactiveneutrals(N). The reactive neutrals(N) attacks both the normal surface and the side walls. * The ions (+) attack the normal surface, only. * Asresult, the etching front advances much faster in the depth thanon the sides.DRY ETCHING Dryetching mechanisms First, a feed gas is introduced into the chamber, where it is broken down into chemically reactive species to form plasma. Reactive species diffuse to the surface to be etched and are then adsorbed on this surface. Once the reactive species reach the surface, they move around on the surface (this process is called surface diffusion) until they react with the exposed film. Afterwards, products of the reaction will desorbed from the surface and diffuse away through the gas steam. In some cases, the sample chuck temperature is intentionally elevated to increase volatility ofthe product ___ soxce cr.) ee decease Reactant (F) Byproducts (SiF,) & Water Surtoce] (s)DRY ETCHING : Reactiveion etching (RIE) i + Plasma etching can produce : ‘Z deeper trenches, than wet etching, but with tapered angles. Tapered trenches are not desirable in many applicationssuch as resonators that involve pairs of “centipedes-like” micro deviceswith overlapped “fingers”. The RIE process has produced MEMSstructures with A/P = 30 with virtually vertical walls of @ = #2° Recent developmentshave achieved silicon substrates with A/P over 100 with @ = 42° at a depth of up to 300 um. A/P = Aspect ratio= the dimension in vertical to horizontal directions 2 waaae @DRY ETCHING Reactive ion etching (RIE) Ituses a chemically reactive plasma generated under a low pressure (10-100 mTorr) to consume the materials deposited on wafers, along with non-reactive ionic bombardment which cn make certain areas on the wafer accessible for chemical reactions. In the RIE system, the chuck holding wafer is grounded and another electrode is connected to the RF power source with frequency 13.56 MHz. Since electrons are more mobile compared to positive ions due to their lighter weight, they travel longer distances and collide more frequently with the electrodes and chamber walls and are consequently removed from the plasma. This process leaves the plasma positively charged. Nevertheless, plasma tends to remain neutral charged; thus, a DC electric field is formed. The region of surfaces in the chamber and electrodes, is called “dark sheath”.DRY ETCHING Reactive ion etching (RIE) Cont. Besides the chemical reaction between the plasma and the target material, the positive ions can be accelerated across the dark sheath by electrical field and strike the target material. This process is the physical bombardment which can also assist the etching process, RIE has a higher probability to move the etchants in the direction of the electric field and produces more anisotropic etch profiles.DRY ETCHING ! “inductively Coupled Plasma etching /DRIE technology [Deep Reactive lon Etching is enabled by equipment that! {can achieve high density of reactive species, and independent control of ion current and ion energy. ' |The ICP source generates a high-density plasma due to) linductive coupling between the RF antenna and the! plasma. The antenna, located in the plasma generation | ‘region, creates an altemating RF magnetic field and’ |induces RF electric fields, which energize electrons that | participate in the ionization of gas molecules and atoms at! ‘low pressure. Due to pe absence of an electric field jnear the reactor walls there is virtually no ion| | bombardment or erosion of the walls.DRY ETCHING ICP/DRIE Cont. Aseparate RF power source is connected to the cathode in order to generate DC bias and attract ions to the wafer. Thus, it becomes possible to decouple ion current and ion energy applied to the wafer. Very high plasma densities can be achieved by ICP and the etch profiles tend to be more isotropic than RIE. peor conyenechnlogese-neinduciey-aupesaumerescieson-tchng/Wetvs. dry etching Em ‘Wet etching a =<, etchant Ionized gas (Chemical Deectonaity Good formostmaterats ‘Ontywt single crystal materia Higher energy3 more drectonalty (aspectratioupto 10) Envronmentalimpact tow We Maskingfimadherence Notascrtcal Veryertial selecivity Poort 10x) \eryg0od(>100s) Materiaistobe etched Onlycertainmateras a Civcaldimensonalcontiol Verygood(<0.1 um) Poor Equipmentcost expensive Lessexpensive Typealetchrate ‘Slow (0.1 m/min to fast 6 Fast(1 um/minand up) m/min) Ccontrolofetchrate Goodincase ofsiow etch itiout Throughput tow(Singlewater) High(oatch)