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Plasma Therm 74 RIE

Operating procedures are available:
Etch — Manual Mode
Etch — Automatic Mode

Plasma Therm 74 RIE

Process Description:
One common method of material removal is reactive ion etching (RIE) using a RF plasma system. The wafers are placed on a plasma electrode. When a voltage difference is present between the plasma and the electrode, ion bombardment occurs. A fluoride rich plasma will deposit fluorocarbons on all surfaces but the directional velocity of the ions will continue the etch process on the horizontal surface with little sidewall reactions. The result of RIE is an anisotropic etch with good selectivity.

Equipment Description:
The Plasma Therm 74 is a two-chamber unit for plasma deposition and reactive ion etching. The RIE chamber has 4 gas channels and one purge line. The RF power source is at 13.56 MHz and capable of 500 watts. The system is programmable for manual or automatic etching. The system is restricted to silicon wafers and is capable of etching silicon, oxide and nitride. No metal-coated wafers are allowed in the system.

Gases available:

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Copyright 2007 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
Date last modified: 15-Jan-2002
Date created: 29-Aug-2001
Content by: rabauer@facstaff.wisc.edu
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