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Nanofabrication Facility
Capabilities & Equipment > Etching
Samco 200 RIE-iP (F)
Photo of the Samco 200 RIE-iP
A selection of device structures etched using this system.
The Samco 200RIE-iP Fluorine-based Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) etching system uses reactive ions of fluorine to etch group IV materials, e.g. silicon or germanium based compounds. The ICP differs from a capacitive reactive-ion etching system (like the PlasmaTherm 790 RIE) in the way that it generates the plasma: it uses an induction coil which can control the plasma density independent of the bias voltage, thereby allowing higher plasma densities to be achieved even with low bias. This allows faster etch rates to be achieved--this system can etch through an entire silicon wafer (~300 µm) in a few hours. Depending on gas flow rates, ICP and bias powers, the system can deposit fluoropolymers and/or etch, even simultaneously. Oxygen plasma can be used to remove organic materials, and argon can be used for a mechanical sputter-etch.
Features:
- Single 3” or 4” wafers, with load-lock for faster pump-down and reduced chamber contamination
- Programmable, and supports the continuous, sequential execution of multiple process programs, such as cleaning process followed by etching for greater process flexibility
- Recipes developed for etching of silicon, silicon oxide, silicon nitride, using metal hard masks and soft photoresist masks
- Grayscale etching recipes with 1:1 (resist:silicon) selectivity
- Bosch-like anisotropic etching via cycling between isotropic chemical etch, sidewall passivation by fluoropolymer deposition, and directional mechanical etch.
- Electrostatic wafer chuck with Helium backside cooling
- End-point detection system for in-situ monitoring of etch depth, can be programmed to stop at specified depth
- Gases available for processes in the Fluorine ICP include:
- octo-fluoro-cyclobutane (C4F8)
- sulfur hexafluoride (SF6)
- hydrogen (H2)
- oxygen (O2)
- argon (Ar)
