Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
8147558 | Current Applied Physics | 2018 | 7 Pages |
Abstract
Pulse-modulated inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching of nanometer-scale patterned CoFeB thin films was performed in CH4/O2/Ar gas mixture. As the pulse on-off duty ratio decreased, the etch selectivity of CoFeB/TiN slightly increased and the etch profiles were improved. Moreover, the etch selectivity of the CoFeB films and the etch profiles were improved with the increase in the pulse frequency of the plasma. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed that during the pulse-modulated etching in the CH4/O2/Ar gas mixture, some polymeric layers were formed on the CoFeB films, which helped prevent the lateral etching and increased the etch selectivity. Consequently, nanometer-scale etching of CoFeB thin films patterned with TiN hard masks could be achieved using pulsed-modulated plasma in CH4/O2/Ar gas mixture.
Keywords
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Physics and Astronomy
Condensed Matter Physics
Authors
Doo Hyeon Cho, Jae Yong Lee, Jae Sang Choi, Chee Won Chung,