Chemically Assisted Ion Beam Etching for Silicon‐Based Microfabrication

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Abstract
Chemically assisted ion beam etching, using Ar+ ions and as the reactive gas, has been investigated for the etching of common materials used in silicon‐based microfabrication: , , single‐crystal Si, and polycrystalline Si. Two possible etch masks for etching the Si substrate have been characterized: and . Etch rates for all these materials and Si etch profiles have been studied as a function of ion energies from 300 to 1000 eV, current densities between 0.05 and 0.15 mA/cm2, and reactive flow rates at substrate temperatures of 30 and 85°C. Trenches etched into Si using as a mask showed steeper profiles and less enhanced etching in the bottom corners than those with an mask. These etch effects are attributed to a deposited layer on the trench sidewalls, when using as a mask. This Si etch process has important applications in shallow trench isolation for deep submicron complementary metal oxide semiconductor integrated circuits.

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