Proximity-controlled silicon carbide etching in inductively coupled plasma

Kim, Byungwhan; Kim, Sungmo; Ann, Soo-Chnag; Lee, Byung‐Teak

doi:10.1016/s0040-6090(03)00459-0

Cited by 11 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Finally, the gap decreased to 6 cm from R. A significant reduction in the surface roughness is observed at either pressure against those for 4-R and 16-R. For this gap variation, the dc bias decreased considerably at either pressure. As partly supported by the electron density measurements, 13 the decrease in the dc bias can be attributed to the increase in plasma density near the plasma source. Therefore, the surface roughness is strongly correlated with the dc bias closer to the plasma source.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 62%

Pressure Controlled Surface Roughness of SiC Plasma Etching

Kim¹,

Lee²

2004

Surface Engineering

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The effects of pressure on the surface roughness of silicon carbide (SiC) film were investigated with variations in other process parameters, including radio frequency source power, bias power, O2 fraction and gap. The SiC films were etched in a C2F6 inductively coupled plasma. The surface roughness, measured by atomic force microscopy, was examined in three particular situations: generated at minimum parameter level (case 1), at high source power (case 2); and at high bias power (case 3). For all variations in the process parameters except the O2 variation, smoother surfaces were observed at lower pressures in all cases. Both surface roughness and dc bias due to the pressure variation were highly correlated in case 1. In case 3, they were inversely related. It is noticeable that in cases 1 and 2 the surface roughness was little affected by the pressure, particularly at high bias power. This feature can be used not only for tight control of surface roughness, but for optimising other etch outputs.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 62%

Pressure Controlled Surface Roughness of SiC Plasma Etching

Kim¹,

Lee²

2004

Surface Engineering

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“…In the case of etching by ICP-RIE method of MESA or trench structures, there was also observed unevenness on the walls of the etched profiles, the so-called “microtrenches” [ 5 , 29 , 33 , 53 , 56 ]—in Figure 4 . They appeared, for example, when a distance between electrodes in the reactor is reduced [ 53 ], or as a result of processes with dominant physical mechanisms of etching [ 6 , 56 ]. The formation of the microtrench may also be accompanied with the presence of the tip of the microtrench ( Figure 5 ).…”

Section: Undesired Phenomena Of the Icp-rie Processmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The structure of the trench itself may additionally contain heterogeneity (Figure 3) depending on the incidence angle (angular distribution) of the beam of reactive ions and radicals [39]. In the case of etching by ICP-RIE method of MESA or trench structures, there was also observed unevenness on the walls of the etched profiles, the so-called "microtrenches" [5,29,33,53,56]-in Figure 4. They appeared, for example, when a distance between electrodes in the reactor is reduced [53], or as a result of processes with dominant physical mechanisms of etching [6,56].…”

Section: Trenching and Microtrenching Phenomenamentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review: Inductively Coupled Plasma Reactive Ion Etching of Silicon Carbide

et al. 2021

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The inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching (ICP-RIE) is a selective dry etching method used in fabrication technology of various semiconductor devices. The etching is used to form non-planar microstructures—trenches or mesa structures, and tilted sidewalls with a controlled angle. The ICP-RIE method combining a high finishing accuracy and reproducibility is excellent for etching hard materials, such as SiC, GaN or diamond. The paper presents a review of silicon carbide etching—principles of the ICP-RIE method, the results of SiC etching and undesired phenomena of the ICP-RIE process are presented. The article includes SEM photos and experimental results obtained from different ICP-RIE processes. The influence of O2 addition to the SF6 plasma as well as the change of both RIE and ICP power on the etching rate of the Cr mask used in processes and on the selectivity of SiC/Cr etching are reported for the first time. SiC is an attractive semiconductor with many excellent properties, that can bring huge potential benefits thorough advances in submicron semiconductor processing technology. Recently, there has been an interest in SiC due to its potential wide application in power electronics, in particular in automotive, renewable energy and rail transport.

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“…The plasmaenhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) system has been widely used to deposit SiN films [1][2][3][4][5][6]. The SiN films were deposited in SiH 4 -NH 3 [1,2] or SiH 4 -N 2 [3] plasma.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The SiN films were deposited in SiH 4 -NH 3 [1,2] or SiH 4 -N 2 [3] plasma. Apart from the SiN films, plasma-driven processes are widely used to deposit or etch a variety of films [4][5][6]. Additives such as H 2 or N 2 have been included in SiH 4 -NH 3 plasma [7,8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of a neural network to characterize the charge density of PECVD-silicon nitride films

Kim

Kwon

2007

Met. Mater. Int.

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Silicon nitride (SiN) films were deposited using a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition system (PECVD). The charge density of the SiN films was modeled using a generalized regression neural network (GRNN). The PECVD process was characterized by means of a face-centered Box Wilson experiment. The prediction performance of the GRNN model was optimized using a genetic algorithm (GA). The GA-GRNN model significantly improved the GRNN prediction performance by more than 55 %. The optimized GA-GRNN model was used to investigate the effects of various parameters on the charge density. A higher charge density was obtained at higher temperatures (i.e. a lower H concentration). Increasing the pressure increased the charge density at all temperatures levels with a much stronger impact at a lower H concentration. The effects of the SiH4 and N2 (or NH3) flow rates on the charge density were similar in that a higher charge density was achieved at a lower Si-N ratio (N-rich films). A considerable increase in the charge density with a radio frequency power at a lower NH3 flow rate was attributed to the generation of more Si-H than N-H bonds.

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Proximity-controlled silicon carbide etching in inductively coupled plasma

Cited by 11 publications

References 10 publications

Pressure Controlled Surface Roughness of SiC Plasma Etching

Pressure Controlled Surface Roughness of SiC Plasma Etching

A Review: Inductively Coupled Plasma Reactive Ion Etching of Silicon Carbide

Use of a neural network to characterize the charge density of PECVD-silicon nitride films

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