The field of plasma etching is reviewed. Plasma etching, a revolutionary extension of the technique of physical sputtering, was introduced to integrated circuit manufacturing as early as the mid 1960s and more widely in the early 1970s, in an effort to reduce liquid waste disposal in manufacturing and achieve selectivities that were difficult to obtain with wet chemistry. Quickly, the ability to anisotropically etch silicon, aluminum, and silicon dioxide in plasmas became the breakthrough that allowed the features in integrated circuits to continue to shrink over the next 40 years. Some of this early history is reviewed, and a discussion of the evolution in plasma reactor design is included. Some basic principles related to plasma etching such as evaporation rates and Langmuir–Hinshelwood adsorption are introduced. Etching mechanisms of selected materials, silicon, silicon dioxide, and low dielectric-constant materials are discussed in detail. A detailed treatment is presented of applications in current silicon integrated circuit fabrication. Finally, some predictions are offered for future needs and advances in plasma etching for silicon and nonsilicon-based devices.

/pdf/plasma-etching-yesterday-today-and-tomorrow-4a8eftp390.pdf

Plasma etching: Yesterday, today, and tomorrow

At present, a new development trend is becoming evident in which the introduction of a pulsed mode for magnetron sputtering seems to be very promising with respect to process stability and layer quality. For instance, the deposition of TiN requires a plasma density that cannot be attained in normal operation. Here the pulsed mode allows a higher plasma density to be obtained without exceeding the thermal rating of the substrate. In this way, for example, it has been4possible to attain bias currents up to 10 mA cm−2. By using several pulse-controlled small magnetron sources in an array, the alloy composition or film thickness distribution can be adjusted by electronic means.

The ever-growing demand for sandwich structures and gradient layers opens new applications for pulsed sputter technology. The reactive deposition of highly insulating layers, e.g. SiO2, TiO2 and Al2O3, has turned out to be rather unsatisfactory up to now. Randomly grown insulating layers on target, anode and plasma-confining electrodes prevent a stable operation. The disturbing effects caused by drifting potential distributions and arcing can be restricted by introducing the pulsed mode in the medium frequency range. With Al2O3, for example, defect densities due to arcing were reduced by three to four orders of magnitude. At rates of 240 nm min−1, the coating operation could be maintained for many hours.

A review is given on the present state of activities in the field of pulsed magnetron sputtering. Based on practical examples, the capabilities inherent in this technique are discussed and further development trends derived.

In our opinion, pulsed magnetron sputter technology is an innovation of great practical significance.

Pulsed magnetron sputter technology

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Mechanisms of reactive sputtering of indium I: Growth of InN in mixed Ar-N2 discharges

Applications and limitations of optical spectroscopy for process control, as well as for more fundamental investigations, of glow discharge sputter deposition and emission spectroscopies allows the determination of concentrations and spatial distributions of sputtered and background gas species in ground, metastable, ionized, and excited states Optical probing is a sensitive detection technique with good spatial resolution It has the advantage of providing in situ real time information without disturbing the discharge Examples of processes which may be monitored optically include: sputter etching and film deposition rates, net elemental sticking probabilities during bias sputter deposition, plasma ’’ashing’’ of photoresists, and reactive ion etching Optical spectroscopy has also been used as a diagnostic technique for investigating preferential sputtering of alloys, reactive gas–surface interactions, and for providing quantitative chemical analysis and depth profiling information

Optical spectroscopy for diagnostics and process control during glow discharge etching and sputter deposition

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Optical spectroscopy for diagnostics and process control during glow discharge etching and sputter deposition