High-speed etching of SiO₂ using a remote-type pin-to-plate dielectric barrier discharge at atmospheric pressure

Abstract

High speed etching of SiO2 has been investigated using a remote-type dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) in-line system with a multi-pin-to-plate power electrode configuration as functions of N2/NF3 gas combination, added gases and operating frequency of a pulse power supply. The SiO2 etch rate increased with an increase in NF3 flow rate (0.2–1.0 slm) in N2 (60 slm)/NF3 but showed a maximum with an increase in N2 (30–80 slm) at 60 slm in the N2/NF3 (1 slm) gas mixture. The SiO2 etch rate was also increased with the addition of up to 0.6 slm of He or Ar gas and it was also related to the increase in fluorine atomic density in the plasma. The addition of He or Ar to the N2 (60 slm)/NF3 (1 slm) and the increase in the frequency of the pulse power increased the fluorine atomic density through the increased Penning ionization/dissociation and the increased ionization by the increased pulse-on time, respectively.

A gamma fluorinated ether as an additive for enhanced oxygen activity in Li–O2 batteries

“…20 The ethylene bridge in TE4 prevents this destabilization by balancing the electron deciency created by the uorinated alkyl group and helps prevent an attack by the superoxide anion radical on the CH 2 -O group. [42][43][44] In order to understand the origin of the O-F signals formed, we deconvoluted and quantied the F1s spectra. 27 Discharge product characterization FTIR and XPS were used to reveal the nature of the discharged product formed.…”

“…40,41 The presence of O-F in compounds at a high binding energy of $692 eV in the F1s spectra and at above 534 eV in the O1s spectra has also been reported in the literature, for example, the formation of the Si-O-F bond during the SiO 2 etching process. [42][43][44] In order to understand the origin of the O-F signals formed, we deconvoluted and quantied the F1s spectra. The result is shown in Table 2.…”

Lifetime of Molecular Nitrogen at Metastable A3Σu+State in Afterglow of Inductively-Coupled Nitrogen Plasma

“…A mechanism of plasma-induced damage is the bombardment of energetic ions onto the wafer. 4) A remote plasma apparatus is used for reducing the dose of ions and other high-energy particles from plasma, [5][6][7] since ions and other high-energy particles have shorter lifetimes than neutral radicals. The new dry etching technology for silicon, that is the motivation of the present work, employs a remote nitrogen plasma source.…”