Smoothing of the Si surface using CF4/O2 down-flow etching
- 15 July 1993
- journal article
- research article
- Published by AIP Publishing in Journal of Applied Physics
- Vol. 74 (2) , 1349-1353
- https://doi.org/10.1063/1.354891
Abstract
Changes in surface morphology have been studied for Si surfacestreated with CF4/O2 down‐flow etching. It has been found that rough Si surfaces can be smoothed and Si trench corners can be rounded off using this CF4/O2 down‐flow etching. A SiF x O y layer is formed on the Si surfaceetched by a down‐flow discharged CF4/O2 gas mixture in high O2 concentration. A thick SiF x O y layer is formed at the concave part of the surface, which prevents fluorine atoms from reacting with Si. On the other hand, Si etching proceeds fast at the convex part covered with a thin SiF x O y layer. As a result, a rough Si surface is smoothed and trench corners are rounded off. By applying this treatment to a polycrystallinesiliconsurface, the leakage current of a SiO2 film grown on it is much reduced.This publication has 7 references indexed in Scilit:
- Two-dimensional simulation and measurement of high-performance MOSFETs made on a very thin SOI filmIEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, 1989
- Nonplanar oxidation and reduction of oxide leakage currents at silicon corners by rounding-off oxidationIEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, 1987
- Surface roughness at the Si(100)-interfacePhysical Review B, 1985
- Near‐Surface Damage and Contamination after CF 4 / H 2 Reactive Ion Etching of SiJournal of the Electrochemical Society, 1985
- Plasma etching of Si and SiO2—The effect of oxygen additions to CF4 plasmasJournal of Applied Physics, 1978
- Wachtman’s equation and temperature dependence of bulk moduli in solidsJournal of Applied Physics, 1978
- Evidence for surface asperity mechanism of conductivity in oxide grown on polycrystalline siliconJournal of Applied Physics, 1977