Specific Process Knowledge/Etch/ICP Metal Etcher/silicon oxide

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It is possible to etch SiO2 in the ICP metal etcher but it is not designed for it and the results are not fantastic. It is a challenge to get a good selectivity to resist (typically in the range of 1:1 or worse) and it is probably not possible to get a profile angle of 90 degrees. More likely about 75-85 degrees. Different chemistries can be applied either based on CF4 or C4F8. If seems that C4F8 can give the best selectivity to resist (best case I have seem was 1:11 but it depends a lot on the process parameters)). If low coil power is needed CF4 chemistry is used because C4F8 needs a higher power to generate a plasma. /bghe 2016-04-25

Slow etch of SiO2 with resist as masking material - using a 6" carrier wafer with recess

This recipe can be used for slow etching of SiO2 with resist as masking material. Here are some test results presented.

Parameter Resist mask
Coil Power [W] 200
Platen Power [W] 25
Platen temperature [oC] 0
CF4 flow [sccm] 20
H2 flow [sccm] 10
Pressure [mTorr] 3


Results Test on wafer with 50% load (Travka 50), by BGHE @danchip 100% load on 100mm wafers with Barc and KRF (no mask)
Etch rate of thermal oxide 44.1 nm/min (50% etch load) (01-02-2014)
Selectivity to resist [:1] ~0.9 (SiO2:resist) ~1.25:1 (Barc:KRF)
Wafer uniformity (100mm) ±1.6% (01-02-2014)
Profile [o] Take a look at the images but be aware that the resist profile was not good to begin with.
Wafer uniformity map (click on the image to view a larger image)
Contour plot of the etch rate over the wafer, 9 points measured
SEM profile images
  • Resist profile before etch
    Resist profile before etch
  • Resist profiler after etch 01-02-2014.
    Resist profiler after etch 01-02-2014.
  • Resist profiler after etch 01-02-2014. No line width reduction observed.
    Resist profiler after etch 01-02-2014. No line width reduction observed.
Etch rate in barc 50 nm/min (2014-09-09)
Etch rate in KRF resist 40 nm/min (2014-09-09)


SiO2 etch using DUV mask


SiO2 etch nLOF

Parameter Resist mask
Coil Power [W] 800
Platen Power [W] 100
Platen temperature [oC] 0
CF4 flow [sccm] 30
H2 flow [sccm] 10
Pressure [mTorr] 4


Results Test on wafer with 50% load (Travka 50), by BGHE @danchip
Etch rate of thermal oxide >110 nm/min (50% etch load) (09-03-2015)
Selectivity to resist [:1] <0.7:1 (SiO2:resist)
Wafer uniformity (100mm) Not known
Profile [o] Not known
Wafer uniformity map (click on the image to view a larger image) Not known
SEM profile images NONE
Etch rate in nLOF resist 1.6µm was removed after 10min
Comment After 10min etch the resist was gone and the etch depth as 1.145µm in the oxide


SiO2 etch with e-beam resist

Simple 2 column table

Process flow:

  • Si, APOX 1152nm by filmtek
  • Si zep520A 560nm by dektakXT
  • jbx9500: 60na ap7 MF for all the exposure
    • same step size: 20nm
    • px1283mk: alignment mark for finfet
    • dose 280uc 3x3 at x pitch 10mm y pitch10mm in wafer center
  px1283lablejan1542014t1  250uc
   at 40mm x y 
  pxline400p1000jan142014dt2
  y=    -40    -45   -50   -55mm
  dose   200   240   280   320uc
  • N50 20c 2min IPA, N2 gental blow dry 18:10 Jan152014
  • Bruker Dektakxt Zep 560.51nmk
  • Metal ICP, 19:00 Jan152014, pxSiO2try9, -10C, 5min
  • Filmtek:large Apox area 5mmx3mm without zep SiO2 remains
    • 494.53nm
    • SiO2 etched 1152-495=657nm
    • SiO2 etch rate: 131nm/min
  • sem zeiss, 1:50am Jan162014 still as over 200nm zep remains on the wafer for line400p1000, need high dose as 320uc. 280uc is not enough to go through 560nm thick zep520A


Parameter Resist mask
Coil Power [W] 800
Platen Power [W] 150
Platen temperature [oC] -10
C4F8 flow [sccm] 8
H2 flow [sccm] 30
Pressure [mTorr] 2.5


Results Test on ?" wafer, by Peixiong Shi@danchip
Etch rate of thermal oxide 131 nm/min (15-01-2014)
Selectivity to resist [:1] ~1.8:1 (SiO2:resist)
Profile [o] Not known
Wafer uniformity map (click on the image to view a larger image) Not known
SEM profile images NONE
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