A study of dry etching mechanisms in CL 2 by Ion energy analysis at the RF-electrode

Abstract A quantitative experimental study on the etching mechanisms of Si, SiO 2 , Ti, and TiSi 2 in Cl 2 reactive ion etching is reported. The ion impact energy distribution and the ion current density have been measured in situ at the rf-electrode of a parallel plate reactor, together with the relevant etch rates. The ion transport through the collisional rf-sheath has been simulated using a Monte Carlo method. A separate method has been used to calculate the energy distribution of bombarding neutrals. This way the contribution of ions and fast neutrals to the sputter yield in Cl 2 RIE plasmas was established. The quantitative approach has been tested against etch results in Ar plasmas in which merely physical sputtering occurs and for which well-defined experimental results are available from the literature.