Hot-jet etching of Pb, GaAs, and Si

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Abstract
Hot-jet etching is a new dry-etching technique which uses a directed flux of radicals to achieve anisotropic etching. The radicals are obtained by the thermal decomposition of a comparatively unreactive source gas in a heated jet. Pb, GaAs, and Si have been etched with this technique using CH3 (methyl), Cl, and F radicals, respectively. Methyl radicals have been derived from several source gases including n-butane, dimethyl ether, and acetone. Atomic fluxes of Cl and F have been obtained by decomposing Cl2 and SF6. Etching rates as high as 10 μm min−1 have been obtained using a Cl flux on GaAs. Since there is no sputtering component during etching, very high differential etching rates, in excess of 1000, have been obtained between Si and SiO2. Since these radicals are very reactive, both the material of the hot jet and its operating temperature are important parameters. Jets formed from alloys of Re and W operating at temperatures near 2700 K have been used to etch GaAs with a Cl flux. Jets formed from W operating near 3200 K and Ir operating near 2000 K have been used to obtain F from SF6 to etch Si.

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