AVS 64th International Symposium & Exhibition
    Nanometer-scale Science and Technology Division Thursday Sessions
       Session NS-ThP

Paper NS-ThP3
Nanometer-scale Etch Characteristics of TiN Thin Films using Inductively Coupled Plasma of Cl2/C2F6/Ar

Thursday, November 2, 2017, 6:30 pm, Room Central Hall

Session: Nanometer-scale Science and Technology Poster Session
Presenter: JaeSang Choi, Inha university, Republic of Korea
Authors: J.S. Choi, Inha university, Republic of Korea
J.Y. Lee, Inha university, Republic of Korea
D.H. Cho, Inha university, Republic of Korea
C.W. Chung, Inha university, Republic of Korea
Correspondent: Click to Email

As the information era has come, high performance semiconductor memory devices which have the characteristics containing high density, fast process time, lower power consumption for faster mass data transfer has been required. To satisfy these demands, scaling down to nanometer scale for etching process has been important in fabricating semiconductor devices. Titanium nitride (TiN) thin film has been widely employed as a hard mask due to its fine property such as good thermal and chemical stability, and good adhesion than conventional inorganic masks. In the past, there were some studies on TiN films using Cl2, BCl3, NF3, CF4, and SF6 gases [1-3]. However, the etching process of nanometer-sized TiN films was rarely investigated.

In this study, nanometer-scaled e-beam resists were patterned on TiN thin films and inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching using Cl2/C2F6/Ar gas mixtures was applied to investigate the characteristics of TiN thin films. First, a variety of gas ratio was examined to find out best etch profile using micro-patterned TiN thin films. Then, based on these results, the nanometer-patterned TiN thin films using Cl2/C2F6/Ar gas mixtures were investigate in terms of etch selectivity and etch profile. Finally, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy will be performed on the etched TiN films to elucidate the etch mechanism.

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  2. J. Tonotani, T. Iwamoto, F. Sato, K. Hattori, S. Ohmi, H. Iwai, Dry etching characteristics of TiN film using Ar/CHF3, Ar/Cl2, and Ar/BCl3 gas chemistries in an inductively coupled plasma, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 21 5 (2003) 2163-2168.

  3. R. Hellriegel, M. Albert, B. Hintze, H. Winzig, J.W. Bartha, Remote plasma etching of titanium nitride using NF3/argon and chlorine mixtures for chamber clean applications, Microelectron. Eng. 84 (2007) 37-41.