Wet and dry etching of La0.67(Sr,Ca)0.33 MnO3 films on Si

We report etching processes of epitaxial La0.67(Sr,Ca)0.33 MnO3 (LSCMO) colossal magnetoresistive (CMR) films grown on Bi4Ti3O12/CeO2/YSZ oxide-buffered Si using buffered HF (BHF), potassium hydroxide (KOH) and Ar ion beam etching (IBE) methods. LSCMO films demonstrate high resistivity against the KOH etchant whereas 22 nm/min etching rate was obtained in the BHF with high selectivity over photoresist and Si. Compared to 24 nm/min for Si, Ar IBE yields 16 nm/min etching rate for the LSCMO film and the oxide-buffer layers.