Correlation of Optical Emission and Ion Flux with GaN Etch Rate in Inductively Coupled Ar/Cl2 Plasma Etching
نویسندگان
چکیده
The etching of GaN was investigated in an Ar/Cl2 inductively coupled plasma. Optical emission spectroscopy and an ion flux probe were used to obtain insight into the etch mechanisms during processing. Langmuir probe measurements were also used to determine the basic Ar/Cl2 plasma characteristics. Etch rates of 500 nm/min were obtained at relatively low Cl2 fractions of 50%. The dominant emission species observed were Ga (at 294 nm) and up to six GaCl peaks between 320 and 345 nm. Plasma characterisation and ion flux indicate etch mechanisms that depend strongly on atomic chlorine but with increasing power and at low Cl2, the significance of ion-based processes cannot be ruled out.
منابع مشابه
Evolution of surface roughness of AlN and GaN induced by inductively coupled Cl2 ÕAr plasma etching
We study the effects of plasma etching on the evolution of surface roughness of GaN and AlN. The etch-induced roughness is investigated using atomic force microscopy by systematically varying plasma power, chamber pressure, and Cl2 /Ar mixture gas composition. GaN etches three to four times more rapidly than AlN for identical plasma conditions. For both GaN and AlN, we find that the surface rou...
متن کاملControlling VUV photon fluxes in pulsed inductively coupled Ar/Cl2 plasmas and potential applications in plasma etching
UV/VUV photon fluxes in plasma materials processing have a variety of effects ranging from producing damage to stimulating synergistic reactions. Although in plasma etching processes, the rate and quality of the feature are typically controlled by the characteristics of the ion flux, to truly optimize these ion and photon driven processes, it is desirable to control the relative fluxes of ions ...
متن کاملAnalysis of nonselective plasma etching of AlGaN by CF4/Ar/Cl2
We report the nonselective plasma etching of epitaxial GaN:Mg, Al0.63Ga0.37N, and AlN/Al0.08Ga0.92N short-period superlattices with various doping properties. Etching is performed using mixed CF4/Ar feed gases in a combined inductively coupled plasma and reactive-ion etching chamber. A uniform etch rate of ,23 nm/min is obtained for each of the compositions studied under identical conditions. T...
متن کاملAnalysis of the etching of silicon in an inductively coupled chlorine plasma using laser thermal desorption
The etching of silicon by a chlorine inductively coupled plasma ~ICP! was studied using laser desorption laser-induced fluorescence ~LD-LIF! analysis to determine the surface coverage of chlorine during steady-state etching. Laser interferometry was used to measure etch rates, and optical emission actinometry and Langmuir probe analysis were used to characterize the plasma. The ICP operated in ...
متن کاملConsequences of atomic layer etching on wafer scale uniformity in inductively coupled plasmas
Atomic layer etching (ALE) typically divides the etching process into two selflimited reactions. One reaction passivates a single layer of material while the second preferentially removes the passivated layer. As such, under ideal conditions the wafer scale uniformity of ALE should be independent of the uniformity of the reactant fluxes onto the wafers, provided all surface reactions are satur...
متن کامل