Atomic layer etching with pulsed plasmas
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for etching a substrate, comprising:
- introducing a feed gas into a plasma chamber, the feed gas comprising a mixture of inert gas and reactant gas;
disposing the substrate in the plasma chamber;
generating a plasma from the feed gas, the plasma containing reactants and ions;
saturating a substrate surface with the reactants to form a product layer, the product layer comprising a monolayer of the reactant species and a first monolayer atoms of the substrate; and
removing the product layer by exposing the product layer to the ions.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for rapid atomic layer etching (ALET) including a pulsed plasma source, with a spiral coil electrode, a cooled Faraday shield, a counter electrode disposed at the top of the tube, a gas inlet and a reaction chamber including a substrate support and a boundary electrode. The method includes positioning an etchable substrate in a plasma etching chamber, forming a product layer on the surface of the substrate, removing a portion of the product layer by pulsing a plasma source, then repeating the steps of forming a product layer and removing a portion of the product layer to form an etched substrate.
-
Citations
15 Claims
-
1. A method for etching a substrate, comprising:
-
introducing a feed gas into a plasma chamber, the feed gas comprising a mixture of inert gas and reactant gas; disposing the substrate in the plasma chamber; generating a plasma from the feed gas, the plasma containing reactants and ions; saturating a substrate surface with the reactants to form a product layer, the product layer comprising a monolayer of the reactant species and a first monolayer atoms of the substrate; and removing the product layer by exposing the product layer to the ions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
-
-
12. A method for processing a substrate comprising:
-
directing ions from plasma afterglow, toward a substrate surface saturated with a first substance; and removing the first substance and a monolayer of substrate atoms with the ions. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
-
Specification