AVS 50th International Symposium
    Plasma Science and Technology Tuesday Sessions
       Session PS-TuM

Paper PS-TuM8
Plasma Diagnostics and Thin Film Characterization in Dielectric Etching: Understanding the Role of Fluorine Chemistry

Tuesday, November 4, 2003, 10:40 am, Room 314

Session: Plasma Diagnostics: Processing
Presenter: B. Ji, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.
Authors: B. Ji, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.
S.A. Motika, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.
P.R. Badowski, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.
S. Dheandhanoo, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.
E.J. Karwacki, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.
J.R. Stets, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.
C. Timmons, Georgia Institute of Technology
D.W. Hess, Georgia Institute of Technology
E.C. Benck, National Institute of Standards and Technology
Y. Ye, Applied Materials, Inc.
Correspondent: Click to Email
Plasmas of fluorine-containing gases have for many years been utilized to etch dielectric materials such as silicon dioxide. Maintaining the balance between the anisotropic dielectric etch rate and formation of the protective passivation films on top of the photoresist surface and on the feature sidewalls is critical in assuring desired etch features and critical dimensions. In recent years, the semiconductor industry have adopted heavier molecular weight and lower fluorine to carbon ratio gases, such as c-C@sub 4@F@sub 8@, C@sub 5@F@sub 8@, and C@sub 4@F@sub 6@ for anisotropic dielectric etching. We performed a fundamentals study to better understand the relationship between etch gas compounds and the species formed within both capacitively and inductively coupled plasmas. UV Absorption Spectroscopy, Sub-millimeter Wave Absorption Spectroscopy, Optical Emission Spectroscopy, Mass Spectrometry, and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy were employed to evaluate the gas phase and surface chemistries of these three etching molecules.