Sidewall Passivation by Oxidation During Refractory-Metal Plasma Etching.
Abstract
Sidewalls in a pattern of a refractory metal on a substrate are passivated during plasma etching by introducing water vapor into the etching chamber. This process obtains nearly vertical sidewalls. In one exemplified embodiment, a pattern of tungsten on a chromium etch step layer was reactive ion etched. In that embodiment, the reactive ion etching was intermittently paused. After each pause, the workpiece was warmed from below about 2O%C to about room temperature. Then, water vapor was introduced into the etching chamber housing the workpiece. After the water vapor was introduced, the workpiece was cooled to below about 200C and reactive ion etching was resumed. Alternatively, water vapor can be introduced into the etching chamber continuously during plasma etching. (AN)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 14, 1995
- Accession Number
- ADD017642
Entities
People
- Christie R. Marrian
- John Kosakowski
- Kelly W. Foster
- Martin C. Peckerar
- William Chu
Organizations
- United States Department of the Navy