Ion-induced chlorination of titanium leading to enhanced etching

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Abstract
The ion-induced chemical etching of titanium with chlorine has been studied. Quartz crystal microbalance studies show that the ion beam etch rate of Ti is enhanced upon addition of molecular chlorine, whereas molecular chlorine does not etch Ti in the absence of ion stimulation. This is very similar to the etching behavior of silicon in the presence of argon stimulation and chlorine gas. The etching of titanium is compared to a generalized version of the ion-assisted chemical etching model first proposed by Winters and Coburn. In this model the ion beam either enhances or induces one of the following chemical etching steps: initial adsorption, product formation, or product removal. The ion beam effect on product formation was determined by x-ray photoemission spectroscopy after sample etching. Ion beam effects on product removal were studied by measuring product distributions using modulated ion beam and time-of-flight techniques. It is found that the energetic ions induce formation of a chemically altered surface containing TiClx compounds. It is the ion-induced formation of this altered surface which leads to enhanced etching. Discussion in terms of the general model provides a comparison of the ion-assisted chemical etching mechanisms of titanium to silicon.

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