In Situ Etching Rate Measurement of Si with XeF2

Abstract

AbstractIon backscattering and channeling techniques have been employed to measure the etching rate of amorphous and single crystal Si by XeF2 under similar conditions.Both (100) Si on sapphire and (111) Si on spinel showed higher etching rates compared to amorphous Si.However, measurements of the etching rate using a Si cell aligned to the axis and along the planes under similar conditions did not show appreciable difference in the etching rate compared to the etching rate with random orientation of the cell.Presence of the analyzing 4He+ beam during etching enhances the etching rate to twice the value when compared to post etching analysis with the same beam.The enhancement of the etching rate due to ion induced decomposition of XeF2 have been considered in the explanation of the experimental results.