Hydrocarbon ECR Reactive Ion Etching of III-V Semiconductors with SIMS Plasma Probe Diagnostics

The advantages of in-situ SIMS plasma probe diagnostics are highlighted in low pressure hydrocarbon ECR reactive ion etching (RIE) of III-V materials. Three aspects of the RIE process are investigated. First, the dominant ion species in a CH4/H2/Ar plasma are recorded at various chamber pressures, ECR powers, CH4/(CH4+H2) gas flow ratios and microwave cavity tuning. These studies have improved our understanding of the effects of these …