An electron cyclotron resonance plasma reactor has been built in order to study the filling of high aspect-ratio features on semiconductor devices with metal. The reactor produces a plasma of copper which is nearly 100% ionized at the substrate, without the use of any buffer or carrier gas. The ion flux is dependent on both the feed rate of copper neutrals into the plasma region, and on the microwave power absorbed in the plasma. Solid filling of features having aspect ratios as high as 4.2 is demonstrated, and a simple model is derived to explain the fill characteristics.

Emission spectra in the visible and ultraviolet range, scanning electron microscopy of various polymers [polyimide, Mylar, and polymethyl-methacrylate (PMMA)], and graphite exposed to 193-,248-, and 351-nm laser radiation were used to investigate the laser etching process. Measurements were performed under vacuum and in air and He environments. At low laser fluence, which depends on the sample and laser wavelength, an unresolved continuum emission was observed. At higher fluences clear e 2 , e, and in some cases also eN emissions were found in addition to the continuum. At still higher fluences ionic carbon emissions became dominant. It was found that laser-produced plasma processes are responsible for most of the observed emissions. Rough and smooth etched surfaces were obtained at different laser fluences depending on the linear absorption coefficient of the sample at the laser wavelength. In polyimide, a roughto-smooth surface transition versus the laser fluence was found to occur exactly when the C z and C emissions appeared on top of the continuum. It is suggested that the laser etching mechanism is mostly a statistical thermodynamic process, but without complete energy randomization.

Pentacene transistor encapsulated by poly-para-xylylene behaving as gate dielectric insulator and passivation film Appl.Poly-para-xylylene family thin films deposited by vapor phase polymerization are pin hole free and are chemically inert to most acids, alkalies, and organic solvents. These properties make this material very attractive as a passivation agent on top of devices. This paper discusses the patterning of such films on planar structures by various masking techniques and the reactive ion etching (RIE) of the poly(monochloro-p-xylylene) in an oxygen-containing plasma, including details like etch rates, control of edge profiles (vertical or tapered), and the process parameters to achieve patterns of 1.5 fim wide and below.

Recently, there has been increasing interest in direct ablation of materials by short-pulse laser beams. Materials under study vary from thin metal films, metal and semiconductor compounds, and inorganic insulators to polymers, including human hair and photoresists. In this paper, a review of the UV laser ablation of polymers is presented. Srinivasan pioneered in the field of polymer ablation by far-UV (193-nm) pulses. Subsequently, polymer ablation with lasers at a few longer wavelengths has been reported. To date, understanding the etching mechanism and identifying the contributions from photochemical and photothermal activities continue to be the outstanding challenge. The technological issues and the material etching behavior, which varies with laser frequency, fluence, laser pulse length, and material optical absorption, will be discussed for microelectronic applications.

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