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Abstract: The etching mechanism of ZrO2 thin films in BCl3/Ar plasma was investigated using a combination of experimental and modeling methods. It was found that an increase in the Ar mixing ratio causes the non-monotonic behavior of the ZrO2 etch rate which reaches a maximum of 41.4nm/min at about 30–35% Ar. Langmuir probe measurements and plasma modeling indicated the noticeable influence of a BCl3/Ar mixture composition on plasma parameters and active species kinetics that results in non-linear changes of both densities and fluxes for Cl, BCl2 and . From the model-based analysis of surface kinetics, it was shown that the non-monotonic behavior of the ZrO2 etch rate can be associated with the concurrence of chemical and physical pathways in ion-assisted chemical reaction. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The investigation of Al2O3 etch characteristics in the BCl3/Ar inductively coupled plasma was carried out in terms of effects of input process parameters (gas pressure, input power, bias power) on etch rate and etch selectivity over poly-Si and photoresist. It was found that, with the changes in gas pressure and input power, the Al2O3 etch rate follows the behavior of ion current density while the process rate is noticeably contributed by the chemical etch pathway. The influence of input power on the etch threshold may be connected with the concurrence of chemical and physical etch pathways in ion-assisted chemical reaction. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: An investigation of the Ba2Ti9O20 (BTO) and Pt thin films etch mechanism in the Cl2/Ar inductively coupled plasma was carried out. It was found that an increase in Ar mixing ratio at fixed gas pressure and input power causes a fast decrease in the BTO etch rate (26.9–1.2nm/min for 0–100% Ar) while the Pt etch rate increases slightly from 17.4–23.0nm/min. Langmuir probe diagnostics and zero-dimensional plasma modeling provided the data on plasma parameters, steady-state composition and fluxes of active species on the etched surface. From the model-based analysis of etch kinetics, it was shown that the behavior of the BTO etch rate corresponds to the reaction-rate-limited etch regime, where the etch rate is limited neither by physical sputtering of the main material nor by the ion-stimulated desorption of low-volatile reaction products. The etch process of Pt appears in the transitional regime and is controlled by the neutral and ion fluxes together. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]