EE143 F2010

Lecture 15

Reactive Ion Etching (RIE)

RF
13.56 ~
MHz

plasma

Parallel-Plate
Reactor

wafers
Sputtering

Plasma generates (1) Ions

(2) Activated neutrals
Enhance chemical reaction

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

EE143 F2010

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

Lecture 15

EE143 F2010

Lecture 15

Remote Plasma Reactors

Plasma Sources
(1) Transformer
Coupled
Plasma
(TCP)
(2) Electron
Cyclotron
Resonance
(ECR)
Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

e.g. quartz
plasma

coils

wafers
-bias

Pressure
pump1mTorr 10mTorr
bias~ 1kV

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Lecture 15

Processes Occurring in Plasma Etching

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

EE143 F2010

Lecture 15

Synergism of ion bombardment AND chemical reaction

give the high RIE rates.
Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

EE143 F2010

Lecture 15

REMOVAL of
surface film
and DEPOSITION
of plasma reaction
products can
occur
simultaneously

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

EE143 F2010

Lecture 15

RIE Etching Sequence

gas flow
5

diffusion of
reactant

absorption

diffusion of by product
desorption
4

3
X
chemical
reaction

gaseous by products

Substrate
Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

EE143 F2010

Lecture 15

Volatility of Etching Product

* Higher vapor pressure
*

e. g . Si 4 F SiF 4

higher volatility
(high vapor pressure)

e. g . Cu Cl CuCl (low vapor pressure )

Example
Difficult to RIE Al-Cu
alloy with high Cu content

mask
Al-Cu Metal
Do not want CuCl residues

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

EE143 F2010

Lecture 15

Vapor pressure of by-product has to be high

P P0 e
P

kT

Example
Difficult to RIE Al-Cu
alloy with high Cu content

1500oC
CuCl

AlCl3

1~2% typical
200oC

1/T

[Al-Cu alloy]

Cl2 as etching gas.

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

EE143 F2010

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

Lecture 15

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Lecture 15

Examples

Use CF4 gas

For etching Si

CF4 F CF3

CF4 e CF F 2e
*

Si 4F SiF4
F* are Fluorine atoms with electrons

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

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Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

Lecture 15

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Lecture 15

Aluminum

CCl4 e CCl3 Cl 2e
*

Al 3Cl AlCl3
Photoresist

C x H y Oz O2

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

COx
HOx

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Lecture 15

How to Control Anisotropy ?

1) ionic bombardment to damage expose surface.
2) sidewall coating by inhibitor prevents sidewall etching.

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

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This exaggerated picture shows a passivation layer so thick

that it can peel off from the sidewall

Lecture 15

Photoresist
on top of Si

Si

Sidewall passivation films

HCl/O2/BCl3 chemistry
Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

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Lecture 15

How to Control Selectivity ?

E.g. SiO2 etching in CF4+H2 plasma

Rate SiO2
S
Rate Si

Rates

P.R.

SiO2
Si

SiO2
Si

Reason:

%H2 in (CF4+H2)

H HF F
SiF

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

H 2%

content

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Lecture 15

Example: Si etching in CF4+O2 mixture

Rates
1

Reason:

Si

(1)O CF x COF x F *

F * increases

Si

etching

rate

( 2 )Si O 2 SiO 2 rate

SiO2

%O2 in CF4

Poly-Si
Oxide

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

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Lecture 15

For reference only

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

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Lecture 15

Effect of RIE process variables on etching characteristics

Control
variable
effect

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

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Lecture 15

Temperature Dependence of Selectivity

R1 A1e

Q1

R2 A2 e

kT

Q2

R= etching rates
A = proportional constants
Q = activation energies

kT

R1 A1 Q1 Q2 kT
S

e
R2 A2
S

if Q1<Q2

77oK

1/T
Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

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Lecture 15

Example: RIE of Aluminum Lines

* It is a three-step sequence :
1) Remove native oxide with BCl3
2) Etch Al with Cl-based plasma
3) Protect fresh Al surface with thin oxidation

2
1 BCl3

Cl2-based RIE
P.R.
native Al2O3

Al
3
Al
Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

Form oxide again (gently)

Al
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Lecture 15

Example: Etching of Deep Trenches

~1m

mask erosion
mask

mask
ballooning

Si
trenching
by-product
residue
ideal
Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

problems
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Lecture 15

Approaches to minimize deep trench etching problems

Ballooning:
Use chemistry with a good sidewall inhibitor.

Trenching:
-Use high pressure to increase ion-neutral scattering
(ion trajectory less directional)

Bottom Roughness:
Increase vapor pressure of etching byproduct.

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

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Lecture 15

Hard Mask for Etching

RIE 1
RIE 2

Photoresist
oxide

poly
To minimize CD distortion, sometimes a two-step RIE process
is used. Example: Process 1 to transfer pattern from resist;
followed by Process 2 to transfer pattern from oxide to poly.
EE243S2010 Lec22
Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

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Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

A better Solution:
Multiple step RIE sequence

Lecture 15

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EE243S2010 Lec22
Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

Lecture 15

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* Can etch through whole Si wafer thickness

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

Lecture 15

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Lecture 15

Local Loading Effect

Less etchant consumption

More etchant consumption

Wsmall
Wlarge

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

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Lecture 15

RIE Lag
* smaller trenches etch at a slower rate than larger trenches.

CCl2F2/O2 RIE
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Lecture 15

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Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

EE143 F2010

Etching Profile Simulation

(http://cuervo.eecs.berkeley.edu/Volcano/)
For reference only

Material and Isotropic and Directional Etch rates in nm/s

Resist 0.83 0.0
Oxide 0.0 8.0

Silicon 11.7 5.0

Substrate 0.0 0.0

Many features such as mask erosion, sidewall angles,

undercut, etc. can be predicted from the simple etching
models.
Q = sin-1 (5.0/(11.7 + 5.)) = 17.4o

Angle appears larger due to unequal scales in x and y.

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

Lecture 15

EE143 F2010

Lecture 15

SUMMARY OF ETCH MODULE

Etch Bias, Degree of Anisotropy, Etch Selectivity

Worst-case considerations for etching
Wet etch qualitative
KOH/EDP etch of Si (anisotropic)
Reactive Ion Etch equipment- qualitative
Synergism of ion bombardment and chemical etching
Selectivity Control - Gas mixture, Temperature
Anisotropy Control Inhibitor deposition, Substrate
bombardment
RIE examples: Aluminum, deep trench etching.
Pattern and Aspect ratio Dependence - qualitative

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley