AVS 46th International Symposium
    Plasma Science and Technology Division Monday Sessions
       Session PS-MoP

Paper PS-MoP33
Magnetized Inductively Coupled Plasma Etching of III-nitrides in Cl@sub 2@/BCl@sub 3@/O@sub 2@ and Cl@sub 2@/BCl@sub 3@/N@sub 2@

Monday, October 25, 1999, 5:30 pm, Room 4C

Session: Poster Session
Presenter: Y.H. Lee, SungKyunKwan University, Korea
Authors: Y.H. Lee, SungKyunKwan University, Korea
Y.J. Sung, SungKyunKwan University, Korea
G.Y. Yeom, SungKyunKwan University, Korea
J.W. Lee, SAIT, Korea
T.I. Kim, SAIT, Korea
Correspondent: Click to Email
In this study, Cl@sub 2@/BCl@sub 3@/O@sub 2@ and Cl@sub 2@/BCl@sub 3@/N@sub 2@ inductively coupled plasmas were used to etch III-nitrides (GaN, AlN, and InN) and the effects of etch parameters such as gas combination and the effects of the magnets on the characteristics of the plasmas and etch properties of III-nitrides were investigated. The role of additive gases such as N@sub 2@ and O@sub 2@ to Cl@sub 2@/BCl@sub 3@ based plasmas to the etching of III-nitrides and the characteristics of plasma were estimated using a Langmuir probe, optical emission spectroscopy (OES), and quadrupole mass spectroscopy (QMS). Surface residue remaining after the etching was also investigated using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The addition of O@sub 2@ and N@sub 2@ in Cl@sub 2@/BCl@sub 3@ generally increased III-nitrides etch rates for the small addition of O@sub 2@ and N@sub 2@ because more dissociated Cl radicals were generated by recombination processes (BO, B@sub 2@O, B@sub 2@O@sub 3@, and BN) between B from BCl@sub 3@ and O from O@sub 2@ or N from N@sub 2@. Using optical emission spectroscopy, radical peak intensities of BO, B@sub 2@O, B@sub 2@O@sub 3@, BN, and Cl intensity were estimated. The change of Cl radical density estimated by OES and QMS as a function of gas combination showed the same trend as the change of III-nitride etch rates, therefore, the etch rates of III-nitrides were related to the abundance of chlorine radical. Also, the use of magnets to the inductively coupled plasmas enhanced the etch rates of III-nitrides and improved the etch profile. We will show the effects of the magnets on the characteristics of the plasmas and the etch properties in more details at the presentation.