ICP etching of RF sputtered and PECVD silicon carbide films

Abstract

In this paper, we report the Inductive Coupled Plasma (ICP) etching of RF sputtered unhydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide film (a-Si0.5C0.5), and plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposited (PECVD) hydrogenated amorphous silicon carbide films (a-Si0.3C0.7:H and a-Si0.7C0.3:H), as-prepared and annealed, using CF4/O2 chemistry. The etch rate of amorphous SiC is observed to be closely related to the hydrogen content. The mechanism of etching is studied by varying the RIE power, ICP power and pressure. It has been suggested that the removal of surface polymers (CFx) is a key factor in the etching process. In order to study the difference in etch rate between sputtered and PECVD SiC and the effects of changing Si/C ratio, IR spectra are used to reveal the bonds density in the samples.