AVS 66th International Symposium & Exhibition
    Surface Science Division Tuesday Sessions
       Session SS-TuP

Paper SS-TuP1
Mechanistic Studies of Thermal Dry Etching of Cobalt and Iron Thin Films

Tuesday, October 22, 2019, 6:30 pm, Room Union Station B

Session: Surface Science Poster Session
Presenter: Mahsa Konh, University of Delaware
Authors: M. Konh, University of Delaware
A.V. Teplyakov, University of Delaware
Correspondent: Click to Email
Thermal dry etching of cobalt and iron thin films were investigated using diketones. Two diketones (1,1,1,5,5,5-hexafluoro-2,4- pentanedione (hfacH) and 2,4-pentanedione (acacH)) were used to show their reactivity toward cobalt and iron thin films with the results being relevant to etching of CoFe alloys. To understand the mechanism of etching process, possible surface reaction pathways were followed with temperature programmed desorption (TPD). Resulting surfaces were characterized using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) supplemented with microscopic investigations. Starting with oxidized or halogenated surfaces was found to be necessary to form volatile products that would make etching possible. However, halogenation makes the mechanism more complicated. It was shown that several products were desorbing from the halogenated metal surfaces containing M 2+ and M 3+ . These products may also contain both the organic ligands and halogens. The effect of dosing temperature on the etching process was also investigated.