Inductively Coupled Plasma Etching

In this technique, one can achieve excellent profile control with low damage as plasma can be maintained at low pressures. The capacity of inductively coupled plasma source to operate at low pressures and generate high density plasma make this tool very attractive. Also, independent bias on the substrate allows the control of ion energies providing excellent results tailored to the specific process requirements. Also, to enable easier control of the relative flux between ions and radicals to the substrate used in the etching processes, reactive ion beam etching (RIBE) system are industrialized. In this technique, the plasma generation region and the substrate processing region can be separated by using a remote plasma source, and ions and radicals are extracted from the plasma source to the substrate processing chamber using a grid assembly.

Figure 3: Schematic diagram of the inductively coupled reactive ion beam etcher (RIBE) with dual exhausting for radical flux control. (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2021.151311)