Damage-free reactive ion etching of silicon in NF3 at low temperature

✍ Scribed by M. Konuma; F. Banhart; F. Phillipp; E. Bauser

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1989
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 352 KB
• Volume: 4
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0921-5107
• DOI: 10.1016/0921-5107(89)90254-7

✦ Synopsis

Reactiw" ion etching (RIE) of silicon in a nitrogen trifluoride (Nk~) plasma is studied at temperatures between + 20 and -140 °~\ 7he etch rates decrease with decreasing temperature and follow an Arrhenius-type dependence below -70 °C Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy gives" evidence that the low temperature RIE in Nt=~ does' not create crystallographic damage in the silicon. Low sample temperatures during R1E promote smoothness" of the etched silicon surfaces and anisotropy of the etched profiles.