Transitional change to amorphous fluorinated carbon film deposition under energetic irradiation of mass-analyzed carbon monofluoride ions on silicon dioxide surfaces

Abstract

We have studied both the etching of SiO2 film and the growth of an amorphous fluorinated carbon (a-C:F) film by mass-analyzed fluorocarbon ion irradiation. This experiment was done in an ultrahigh vacuum with a pressure of 10−7 Pa even during irradiation. When using a carbon monoflouride (CF1+) ion with an energy of 300 eV to irradiate, it was found that SiO2 film a few nm thick was initially etched away. Then, an a-C:F film was continuously deposited on the SiO2 surface as the ion dose exceeded about 5×1016 cm−2. Using in situ x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis, it was determined that carbon accumulates on the surface at this early stage as the ion dose increases, so that this transition is resulted by the surface modification on which the CF1+ ion itself irradiates the SiO2 surface. Especially in highly ionized fluorocarbon plasmas, surface conditions such as the carbon concentration affect possibly etching performance.

Effects of hydrogen ion irradiation on zinc oxide etching

“…The mass selected ion beam system [35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44] used in this study can inject mass-selected ions with a specified energy. A schematic diagram of the ion beam system is given in Fig.…”

Suboxide/subnitride formation on Ta masks during magnetic material etching by reactive plasmas

“…In this study, a mass-selected ion beam system [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] was used to investigate Ta etching processes. The beam system allows only desired ions with specified incident energy to be injected into a sample surface.…”

Source Gas Dependency of Amorphous Fluorinated Carbon Film Properties Prepared by Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition Using C4F8, C4F6, and C5F8 Gases

“…6,7) For IMDs, amorphous fluorinated carbon (a-C:F) films prepared from several perfluoro-carbon (PFC) gases have already been reported. [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] These a-C:F films deposited by plasma enhanced CVD (PECVD) generally have a low dielectric constant of 2.0 -2.5, and thus are promising candidates for next generation IMDs. Despite their high global warming potential (GWP), PFC gases, such as C 4 F 8 , have been used for reactive etching of Si and SiO 2 .…”