Journal article
Maximum achievable aspect ratio in deep reactive ion etching of silicon due to aspect ratio dependent transport and the microloading effect
Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B: Microelectronics and Nanometer Structures, Vol.23(6), pp.2319-2329
11/2005
DOI: 10.1116/1.2101678
Abstract
When etching high-aspect-ratio silicon features using deep reactive ion etching (DRIE), researchers find that there is a maximum achievable aspect ratio, which we define as the critical aspect ratio, of an etched silicon trench using a DRIE process. At this critical aspect ratio, the apparent etch rate (defined as the total depth etched divided by the total elapsed time) no longer monotonically decreases as the aspect ratio increases, but abruptly drops to zero. In this paper, we propose a theoretical model to predict the critical aspect ratio and reveal its causal mechanism. The model considers aspect ratio dependent transport mechanisms specific to each of the reactant species in the three subprocesses of a time-multiplexed etch cycle: deposition of a fluorocarbon passivation layer, etching of the fluorocarbon polymer at the bottom of the trench, and the subsequent etching of the underlying silicon. The model predicts that the critical aspect ratio is defined by the aspect ratio at which the polymer etch rate equals the product of the deposition rate and the set time ratio between the deposition and etching phases for the time-multiplexed process. Several DRIE experiments were performed to qualitatively validate the model. Both model simulations and experimental results demonstrate that the magnitude of the critical aspect ratio primarily depends on (i) the relative flux of neutral species at the trench opening, i.e., the microloading effect, and (ii) aspect ratio dependent transport of ions during the polymer etching subprocess of a DRIE cycle.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Maximum achievable aspect ratio in deep reactive ion etching of silicon due to aspect ratio dependent transport and the microloading effect
- Creators
- Junghoon Yeom - Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1206 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois 61801Yan Wu - Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1206 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois 61801John C Selby - Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1206 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois 61801Mark A Shannon - Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1206 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois 61801
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B: Microelectronics and Nanometer Structures, Vol.23(6), pp.2319-2329
- DOI
- 10.1116/1.2101678
- ISSN
- 0734-211X
- eISSN
- 1520-8567
- Number of pages
- 11
- Grant note
- DEFC02-91-ER45439 / DOE F3615-01-C2172 / DARPA CTS-0120978 / NSF
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 11/2005
- Academic Unit
- Roy J. Carver Department of Biomedical Engineering; Dermatology
- Record Identifier
- 9984025671602771
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