Reactive ion etching of quartz and Pyrex for microelectronic applications

Abstract

(2002). Reactive ion etching of quartz and pyrex for micro electronic applications. Journal of applied physics 92(7): 3624-3629 and may be found at https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1503167Additional information: Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. The reactive ion etching of quartz and Pyrex substrates was carried out using CF 4 /Ar and CF 4 /O 2 gas mixtures in a combined radio frequency ͑rf͒/microwave ͑w͒ plasma. It was observed that the etch rate and the surface morphology of the etched regions depended on the gas mixture ͑CF 4 /Ar or CF 4 /O 2 ), the relative concentration of CF 4 in the gas mixture, the rf power ͑and the associated self-induced bias͒ and microwave power. An etch rate of 95 nm/min for quartz was achieved. For samples covered with a thin metal layer, ex situ high resolution scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy imaging indicated that, during etching, surface roughness is produced on the surface beneath the thin metallic mask. Near vertical sidewalls with a taper angle greater than 80°and smooth etched surfaces at the nanometric scale were fabricated by carefully controlling the etching parameters and the masking technique. A simulation of the electrostatic field distribution was carried out to understand the etching process using these masks for the fabrication of high definition features.

Laser ablation of thin films of molybdenum for the fabrication of contact masks elements of diffractive optics with high resolution

“…Working chamber cylindrical shape of the planar type. The etching was conducted in an environment hexafluoride SF 6 [15]. To stabilize the discharge in the plasma mixture was added in argon [16 -18].…”

Study of High Aspect Ratio NLD Plasma Etching and Postprocessing of Fused Silica and Borosilicate Glass

“…The plasma etching is achieved by the reactive species created in result of the dissociation of fluorinated C 3 F 8 etching gas. The etching process is completed by two simultaneous steps, these are: (1) chemical reactions of the etching gas with the glass surface and (2) physical etching due to ion bombardment [14]. The bombardment of ions contributes to an anisotropic and directional etch.…”

Reactive ion etching (CF4/Ar) and ion beam etching of various glasses for diffractive optical element fabrication

“…For the realization of high precision devices such as DOE, anisotropic dry etching like RIE and IBE is commonly preferred to wet chemical etching, which is generally isotropic and can induce undesirable undercutting. RIE processes on glass substrates have been investigated for quartz, Pyrex, and silica‐based materials …”

“…RIE processes on glass substrates have been investigated for quartz, Pyrex, and silica-based materials. [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] For low-cost applications it may be desirable to fabricate DOE using commercially available glass substrates instead of expensive quartz glass, which is preferred for the production of high precision micro-optical devices. Due to the very different glass compositions, commercially available glass materials show significantly different behavior at RIE and IBE processes regarding their etch rates and surface properties after etching.…”