Etching

The overall goal of an etch process for VLSI fabrication is to reproduce the features on
the mask with fidelity.
etching =
mask Patterm Wafer

ouasklayer

Mask layer

layerto be etched

substrate
 Etch techniques consist of dry and wet etch methods.

O Wet etching : Isotropic undercut

⇒ uses @chemical solutions.
~
/
⇒Oisotropic etching, where both vertical and lateral etch rates are comparable

? Dry etching : Fplasma etching ) Anisotropic

⇒ synonymous with plasma-assisted etching
~

etching
… C
⇒ very-high-accuracy transfer of resist patterns due to nearly perfect anisotropic

undercut
K

G desireablel
 e1

2
The slope of the sidewalls and
~ ~ ~
O

the degree of undercutting are

~

two major factors which decide

the pattern-transferring-fidelity.

itehed substrate

)
[ when substrate
Iayer etchingrfate
)
A useful dry etch process should have the following characteristics :
Mask ! !
a) high selectivity against etching the mask layer material
~
ayern efching

b) high selectivity against etching the ~=

underlayer substrate >
! !

c) good uniformity across the entire wafer, from wafer-to-wafer, and from run-to-run

d) suitably high etch rate (in consideration of throughput)

e) minimal damage to substrate (ex. oxide space etching)

f) easy to remove the etch mask material after the etching is completed
~~~~~~

g) low particle generation

 Wet Etching f feselective eIsotropicx undercut ↑

• Wafers typically submerged in specific chemical baths.

~

• Processes tend to be highly selective but isotropic (except for crystallographically

dependent etches).

• Examples:
Etching of SiO2 by aqueous HF:
soluble
waterwater

SiO2 + 6HF → H2SiF6 + 2H2O

Etching of Si by nitric acid (HNO3) and HF:
Si + HNO3 + 6HF → H2SiF6 + HNO2 + H2O + H2
 Wet Etching
b
• Isotropic etching implies undercutting. This is often expressed in terms of the etch
…
~~ ~ ~

bias b.
etching time
• Some degree of overetching, shown below at right, is
usually necessary to ensure complete etching (due to ~

variations in film thickness and etch rate).

D
oVeretching
:
Justetch

etchbias

Justetchingover
-

etching
U
 Plasma Etching
• There are three principal mechanisms
f chemical reaction
β
[Link] basis etching (isotropic, selective)
good

8
[Link] basis etching (anisotropic, less selective)
good
f f
[Link]-enhanced etching (anisotropic, selective)
good good

• Most applications today try to use the ion-enhanced mechanism.

 Plasma Etching
i) Physical basis etching : sputtering, ion m illing Anzsotrkpicitx oless selective

Low pressure regime > MFPT > →

Anzsotropic

The process predominantly relies on the physical mechanism of sputtering.

~

(∗ Sputtering is the ejection of material from a surface caused by bombardment by

energetic inert ions such as Ar+ or Xe+. )
0
The strongly directional nature of the incident energetic ions allows substrate material
to be removed in a highly anisotropic manner. (i.e., essentially vertical etch profiles are
~~~~~~~~

produced.)

But, such material removal mechanisms are quite non-selective against both masking
~

material and underlayer material. (The selectivity depends on sputter yield differences
between materials.)

Since the ejected species are not inherently volatile, redeposition can occur.

Serious nano-trenching effect

High possibility of underlayer damage

 selectiveo
e

Isotropic ,

ii) Chemical basis etching : P lasm a chem ical etching

~

Highest chamber pressure Mean free Path d > X > Zsotropi

~

The process strictly relies on chemical mechanisms.

Very high selectivities against both mask and underlayer.

Such purely chemical etching mechanisms typically etch in an isotropic fashion.

Limited applications such as PR stripping in oxygen plasma

Very low possibility of underlayer damage

 selectivetott
tuingAnotropict
' Reactive In

iii) Combination of Physical and Chemical basis etching : R I E

Middle pressure range : ~ 100 mtorr

~

By adding a physical component to a purely chemical etching mechanism in order to

improve anisotropic etching characteristic, together with adequate selectivity.

More selective than sputtering, more directional than plasma chemical etching

RIE (Reactive Ion Etching) is the major dry etching process in VLSI fabrication
∗ Classification of Dry Etch process

PLASMA CHEMICAL ETCHING

 < plasmal

a) production of charged species

-

simple ionization : O2 + e − → O2+ + 2e −

…

dissociation : CF4 + e − → CF3+ + F + 2e −

~

CF4 + e − → CF3+ + F − + e −

b) loss of charged species

electron-ion recombination : O2+ + e − → 2O

ion-ion recombination : CF3+ + F − → CF4

dissociative attachment : CF4 + e − → CF3 + F −

 3. Etch Mechanism

3.1 Plasma Chemistry : CF4 plasmas

CF4 is extremely stable but dissociates into F atoms and fluorinated fragments (CFx) in a
plasma. CF 4
6ta , p asm F + ( F×
1

X………………. (1) CF4 → CFx + F , x ≤ 3

Atomic F is the active etchant for Si and SiO2 by the formation of the volatile SiF4 and
O2. F Si iO 2 SiF4 O si ( siu etch

Si + 4 F → SiF4 ………………. (2)

SiO2 + 4 F → SiF4 + O2 ………………. (3)

Thus, etching rate depends on the F concentration.

~~~

CF4 continuously undergoes dissociative collisions in the plasma to form CFx radicals
and F. At the same time, recombination of these two species is also occurring.
CF4 F CFx
,

The F concentration is therefore directly related to the difference in the rates of the two
types of reactions. etchratee

By adding other species into CF4 plasma, etching rate can be controlled by controlling
the F concentration.
~
 O2

3.1.1 CF4 – O2 plasma

By adding O2 into CF4 , the etch rate of Si increases

dramatically.

!
CFX

Si iO 2
Adding O2 to the plasma leads to the formation of
SiF
COF2, CO, and CO2, which decreases the
etching rated
concentration of CFx thereby decreasing the CFx/F
>

recombination rate. ⇒ results in a higher F

~
concentration. etchingratex
The etch rate stops increasing at about 12% O2 in Si
etching, and at about 20% O2 in SiO2 etching.

The etch rate increases with F concentration until the

effect of O2 diluting the CF4 becomes significant.
~
> 02 CFX
.

This point is reached sooner for Si etching. The O2

molecules are believed to be chemisorbed on to
surface of Si more readily than SiO2, thus blocking Si-
F interaction. SiO 2 S O 2 Sio 2 S
SiF
 H 2
O2

3.1.2 CF4 – H2 plasma Hz etchingrate

The SiO2 etch rate is relatively insensitive to H2

concentration.

The Si etch rate decreases significantly as the H2

concentration increases. When the H2 concentration siOz C

reaches 40%, the silicon etch stops. O

LO 2

Two mechanisms are involved.

0 H2 react with F to form HF,

yredule F →
etchingrated
H 2 + 2 F → 2 HF ………………. (4)

This reaction competes with Si-F interaction, thus

reducing the Si etch rate.
 b) H2 affects the carbon-related chemistry
8
Eq. (2) and (3) neglect the presence of carbon. But in real situation, the reaction of
CF3 radicals with the surface is involved, too.

In oxidizing ambient (with O2) or in the case of SiO2,

CFx + Si + O2 → SiFy + (CO, CO2 ) ………………. (5)

CFx + SiO2 → SiFy + (CO, CO2 ) ………………. (6)

In reducing ambient (with H2), H H

20 ( (O

O
CFx + Si → SiFy + C ………………. (7)

This reaction forms a carbon or hydrocarbon polymer on the silicon surface, which
blocks silicon etching by F.

The large difference in etch rate between silicon and oxide at high H2 concentration can
be used for selective etching of oxide film on the silicon substrate. Etch selectivity
(SiO2-to-Si etch rate ratio) can be controlled by changing the ratio of H2 to CF4
concentration. H
2
Si SiOv etching Rate Selectivity .
3.2 Surface Chemistry

3.2.1 Ion-enhanced etching

Atomic F and molecular F2 etch Si spontaneously at room temperature without a
plasma. This occurs through formation of volatile SiF4 on the surface and
subsequent desorption. F F Plasma
2
sietchingg
how ? SiF4

When ions strike a surface undergoing Si-F interaction, etch rate is greatly
increased – larger than the simple sum of the individual etch rates for sputtering
component and the chemical rate. Si F -

etch rate

This synergistic interaction could be caused by the ions accelerating the desorption
of SiF4 or by the ions damaging the near surface, thus increasing its reactivity with
F. siF4 Si ,
F

I
This type of reaction is usually referred to as ion-enhanced etching .
~
chemilalpure reaction Chemilaltphysical pure physilal component

vhighething rate

Ion enhanced
etching
-
 3. Etch Mechanism

3.3 Etch Profile Control

3.3.1 Anisotropy

i) Definition

Anisotropic etch : the etching process attacks the layer significantly faster in the vertical
direction than in the horizontal.

The degree of anisotropy is defined as

Vh
A =1− ………………. (8)
Vv
H …
where are horizontal and vertical etch rates.

A = 0 represents isotropic etching

A = 1 represents perfect anisotropic etching.
Selectivity is normally expressed simply as the ratio of etch rates of two films :
EA
S AB = ………………. (9)
EB
where EA is the etch rate of the layer to be etched and EB is the etch rate of a second
material.

The required selectivity is determined according to a specified overetching

percentage .

In practice, overetching is always necessary because all etch processes have some
degree of etch rate nonuniformity and many etching layers start with nonuniform
thickness because of nonuniform deposition conditions and underlying topology.

High overetch percent requires high etch selectivity.

For example, to remove a polysilicon residue at the field oxide edge, some degree of
overetch is required and the percentage of overetch is depending on the height of field
oxide.
 IN
hlarug
"

'
2000

; 1000 A
A
0

- s0 A
~
(Q) the height of field oxide = 1000 Å

polysilicon thickness = 2000 Å,

Gate oxide thickness = 100 Å,

Then, what is minimum required etch selectivity ?

( Polysilicon deposition nonuniformity = ± 5%, but neglect etch rate nonuniformity and
gate oxide thickness nonuniformity )

(A) Considering the worst case,

Poly-Si thickness at thickest point = 3000 Å + 5% variation = 3150 Å > thiclcest Area

Thinnest polysilicon thickness = 2000 Å - 5% variation = 1900 Å > thinnest Area

gate oxide is exposedJto the etching environment for a time duration of 1250 Å ( =
~

3150 – 1900 ) polysilicon etching. Thus, 1250/100 = 12.5.

Thus minimum 12.5 of etch selectivity between polysilicon and oxide is required. But in
real situation, the higher than 12.5 is required if we take into account the etch rate
nonuniformity, run-to-run variation, and so on.
 Example of Specific Etch Process Anisotropicthighselectiotyhigh
chemical physic
- Polysilicon Gate Etching

Gate polysilicon etch process must exhibit excellent line

width control, and high uniformity of etching.
( CD gain or loss compared to mask CD = change in
channel length, itilal demension
nanotrench
nonuniformity of CD control = nonuniformity of channel θ
length,)
⇒ high anisotropy is required.
Gate poly ili ( neth igh Anisotpy
'
Step heights in field oxide requires somewhat high degree
of overetching1 to ensure no stringers (poly-Si residue at the
field oxide step edge). And polysilicon is placed on the very
thin gate oxide. Thus very high selectivity is required
between silicon and oxide etch rate. o
eretching f Poly 5 ili (n

gate olide igh seectivity

In addition, because of nano-trench, even larger process
margin in etch selectivity is necessary to ensure no pit on
silicon substrate.
hano
-
trenh silicon Selectiity
i) polysilicon gate

Three major halogen atoms to etch silicon : F, Cl, Br

Reactivity : F > Cl > Br yhigh reactivity = moresotropic

]
[ : AnIsotopic
High reactivity means more isotropically etching silicon. So, F-based chemistries such
as CF4 or SF6 is not suitable for gate poly etch.

Cl-based chemistries have been used widely because of high silicon etch rate and high
selectivity. But still tend to give slightly isotropic etch profiles. To increase anisotropy,
Carbon-containing gases (such as CCl4, CF4, CHCl3, and CHF3) were employed to
provide sidewall passivation. anisotropic p
>

Recently, bromine-based chemistries have become popular for etching silicon with
anisotropy and extremely high selectivity to the oxide. Another advantage is “no
carbon contamination”.
~
not uniform SiO "'
2
poly i '
~
.

Poly Si
(ex) HBr/O2 or HBr/Cl2/O2
-

~:
GBr etching rate poly s
~ 1

-
sietching
When silicon etch is performed with very high selectivity, breakthrough etch step should
be inserted prior to main silicon etch because of the existence of native oxide.
siO 2