Low damage-producing, anisotropic, chemically enhanced etching method and apparatus

摘要

Anisotropic chemically enhanced etching apparatus producing extremely low surface damage during the etching process. There is an evacuated main chamber in which an etching process takes place. A temperature-controlled, tiltable stage receives and holds the substrate to be etched within the main chamber. There is a nozzle directing a flow against a substrate mounted on the stage. There is a microwave cracker connected to a supply of molecular chlorine on an input side and connected to the nozzle on an output side for exciting and disassociating the molecular chlorine to be discharged through the nozzle as chlorine radicals. A first controller is operably connected to the cracker for controlling the flow of chlorine radicals being emitted from the nozzle. There is an ion gun for controlling the beam of ions. The second controller includes a feedback signal.