Paper PS-TuP2
Etching Characteristics of V₂O₅ Thin Films using by Cl₂/Ar Inductively Coupled Plasma

Tuesday, October 16, 2007, 6:00 pm, Room 4C

Recently, the technology of microelectronic systems has attracted global attention for applications such as medical devices, communication systems, sensors and actuators. Vanadium oxide has a high capacity for ion storage, it is stable under a cyclic voltage and provides a particular (mixed) type of coloration complementary to that exhibited by the tungsten oxide (WO₃), allowing the production of high performances smart windows. Also vanadium oxides, with unique characteristic structures, comprise a particularly interesting group of inorganic 3d-transition metal oxide compounds due to their diverse, electronic, opto-electronic, electrochromic, and magnetic properties, which makes them potential candidates for important technological applications. Research and development of V₂O₅ have been rapidly accelerated to improve materials for the last decades. But, etch properties of V₂O₅ have not established yet. In this study, we investigated etch characteristics of dry etching of the V₂O₅ thin films in the inductively coupled plasma etch system with (Cl₂/Ar) gas mixture. The etching characteristics of V₂O₅ thin films were investigated in terms of etch rates and selectivity as a function of (Cl₂/Ar) gas mixing ratio, rf power, dc bias voltage and chamber pressure. The chemical states on the etched surface were investigated with x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to investigate the etching profile.