| AVS 63rd International Symposium & Exhibition | |
| Plasma Science and Technology | Wednesday Sessions |
| Session PS-WeA |
| Session: | Atomic Layer Etching and Low Damage Processing |
| Presenter: | Wenbing Yang, Lam Research Corp. |
| Authors: | W. Yang, Lam Research Corp. S. Tan, Lam Research Corp. K. Kanarik, Lam Research Corp. R. Arghavani, Lam Research Corp. T.B. Lill, Lam Research Corp. Y. Pan, Lam Research Corp. |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
Atomic layer etching (ALE) has been studied in the laboratory for more than 25 years and is being driven today by the semiconductor industry [1]. The case study ALE system is silicon ALE etched with alternating chlorine dosing and argon ion bombardment. Besides silicon, over 20 other materials have been reported with ALE including oxides, III-V compounds, and metals. Germanium, due to its superior hole mobility, is a prime candidate to replace silicon channel for use in future semiconductor devices. Two previous studies reported on germanium ALE in 1997. In the first study, Ikeda et al reported isotropic ALE of Ge by removing the chlorinated layer thermally [2]. In the second study, Sugiyama et al reported directional ALE of Ge by removing the chlorinated layer using argon ions [3]. In both reports, the chlorine was delivered thermally as a gas, without the use of plasma. Here we report on plasma-enhanced, directional Ge ALE. We will show results on both Ge blanket and patterned wafers and compare the behavior to the silicon case study.
References
1. Kanarik et al, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 33(2), Mar/Apr 2015
2. Ikeda, Imai, and Matsumura, Applied Surface Science 112, 1997
3. Sugiyama, Matsuura, Murota, Applied Surface Science 112, 1997