EE143 F2010 Lecture 15

Reactive Ion Etching (RIE)

RF Parallel-Plate
13.56 ~ plasma Reactor
MHz
wafers
Sputtering
Plasma generates (1) Ions
(2) Activated neutrals

Enhance chemical reaction

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley 1

EE143 F2010 Lecture 15

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley 2

EE143 F2010 Lecture 15

Remote Plasma Reactors

Plasma Sources e.g. quartz

(1) Transformer plasma coils
Coupled
Plasma
(TCP) wafers

(2) Electron
-bias
Cyclotron Pressure
Resonance pump1mTorr 10mTorr
bias~ 1kV
(ECR)

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley 3

EE143 F2010 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 5
EE143 F2010 Lecture 15

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

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley 6

EE143 F2010 Lecture 15

RIE Etching Sequence

gas flow

5
1

diffusion of diffusion of by product

reactant desorption
2 3 4
X
chemical
reaction gaseous by products
absorption

Substrate

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EE143 F2010 Lecture 15

Volatility of Etching Product

* Higher vapor pressure higher volatility

*
e. g . Si 4 F SiF 4 (high vapor pressure)

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

Example
mask
Difficult to RIE Al-Cu
Al-Cu Metal
alloy with high Cu content
Do not want CuCl residues

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EE143 F2010 Lecture 15

Vapor pressure of by-product has to be high

H v
P P0 e kT
Example
P
1500oC Difficult to RIE Al-Cu
alloy with high Cu content
AlCl3
CuCl
1~2% typical

[Al-Cu alloy]
200oC 1/T
Cl2 as etching gas.

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EE143 F2010 Lecture 15

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley 10

EE143 F2010 Lecture 15

Examples
For etching Si Use CF4 gas
*
CF4 F CF3
*
CF4 e CF F 2e
3
*
Si 4F SiF4
F* are Fluorine atoms with electrons

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley 11

EE143 F2010 Lecture 15

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley 12

EE143 F2010 Lecture 15

Aluminum
+ *
CCl4 e CCl3 Cl 2e
*
Al 3Cl AlCl3

Photoresist
COx
C x H y Oz O2
HOx

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EE143 F2010 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 14

EE143 F2010 Lecture 15

This exaggerated picture shows a passivation layer so thick

that it can peel off from the sidewall

Photoresist
on top of Si

Si

Sidewall passivation films

HCl/O2/BCl3 chemistry
Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley 15
EE143 F2010 Lecture 15

How to Control Selectivity ?

Rate SiO2
S
Rate Si
E.g. SiO2 etching in CF4+H2 plasma
S
Rates P.R.
SiO2
Si
SiO2
Si H 2%
%H2 in (CF4+H2)

Reason: F *
H HF F *
content
SiF 4
Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley 16
EE143 F2010 Lecture 15

Example: Si etching in CF4+O2 mixture

Rates Reason:
Si
(1)O CF x COF x F *
1
2
F * increases Si etching rate
( 2 )Si O 2 SiO 2 rate
SiO2
%O2 in CF4

Poly-Si
Oxide

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EE143 F2010 Lecture 15

For reference only

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley 18

EE143 F2010 Lecture 15

Effect of RIE process variables on etching characteristics

Control
variable

effect

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EE143 F2010 Lecture 15

Temperature Dependence of Selectivity

Q1
R1 A1e kT
R= etching rates
A = proportional constants
Q2 Q = activation energies
R2 A2 e kT

R1 A1 Q1 Q2 kT
S e
R2 A2
S

77oK if Q1<Q2

1/T

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley 20

EE143 F2010 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 Cl2-based RIE

1 BCl3 P.R.
native Al2O3
Al

3 Form oxide again (gently)

Al Al

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EE143 F2010 Lecture 15

Example: Etching of Deep Trenches

~1m mask erosion

mask mask

ballooning
Si

trenching
by-product
residue
ideal problems
Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley 22
EE143 F2010 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.

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EE143 F2010 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 24
Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley
EE143 F2010 Lecture 15

A better Solution:
Multiple step RIE sequence

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EE143 F2010 Lecture 15

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EE143 F2010 Lecture 15

* Can etch through whole Si wafer thickness 27

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley
EE143 F2010 Lecture 15

Local Loading Effect

Less etchant consumption
More etchant consumption

Wsmall
Wlarge

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EE143 F2010 Lecture 15

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

CCl2F2/O2 RIE

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EE143 F2010 Lecture 15

30
Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley
EE143 F2010 Lecture 15

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
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