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An etching method capable of producing vertical-walled high-resolution patterns in aluminum and aluminum alloy films is described. The process consists of rf sputter etching in a plasma containing ion species, which react with the metal to form volatile or easily sputtered compounds. The presence of reactive species greatly enhances the etch rate, while the electric field maintains the directionality inherent in the sputtering process. Halogen ion species, as obtained in rf plasmas containing a partial pressure of Cl2, Br2, HCl, HBr, or CCl4, were used to produce reactive ion etching of Al. The etch rate in a CCl4 plasma at a power input of 0.6 W/cm2 is as high as 5000 Å/min. Variations in reaction rate with rf power, reactant concentration, reactant flow rate, temperature, gas pressure, batch size, and residual gas contamination are discussed. Etch rate data for various materials found suitable for masking are also presented.

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There is great technological interest in elucidating the effect of particle size on the luminescence efficiency of doped rare earth oxides. This study demonstrates unambiguously that there is a size effect and that it is not dependent on the calcination temperature. The Y2O3:Eu and Gd2O3:Eu particles used in this study were synthesized using wet chemistry to produce particles ranging in size between 7 nm and 326 nm and a commercially available phosphor. These particles were characterized using three excitation methods: UV light at 250 nm wavelength, electron beam at 10 kV, and X-rays generated at 100 kV. Regardless of the excitation source, it was found that with increasing particle diameter there is an increase in emitted light. Furthermore, dense particles emit more light than porous particles. These results can be explained by considering the larger surface area to volume ratio of the smallest particles and increased internal surface area of the pores found in the large particles. For the small particles, the additional surface area hosts adsorbates that lead to non-radiative recombination, and in the porous particles, the pore walls can quench fluorescence. This trend is valid across calcination temperatures and is evident when comparing particles from the same calcination temperature.