A Parametric Study of the Etching of Silicon in SF6Microwave Multipolar Plasmas: Interpretation of Etching Mechanisms

Abstract

A parametric study of the etching of silicon has been performed in a Microwave Multipolar Plasma using an Electron Cyclotron Resonance excitation. The evolution of the anisotropy and etch rate is measured as a function of the SF₆pressure, ion energy (6pressure whereas the etch rate, independent of ion energy and current density, increases proportionally with the SF₆pressure in the domain investigated. These results, corroborated by the mass spectrometry analysis of the reaction products are explained through the diffusion model recently proposed for plasma etching.