Reactive ion etching apparatus.

摘要

A reactive ion etching chamber structure is designed to provide operation with uniformity in electric field and generated plasma so as to produce uniform, contaminant-free etching over large batches of silicon wafers. The anode chamber structure (23) is cylindrical and physically symmetrical with respect to a round cathode plate (29) with the internal surfaces of the chamber being free of any apertures, holes, recesses, or the like, having an opening dimension larger than one thenth the thickness of plasma "dark space". Under normal reactive ion etching conditions, such opening dimension is 1.5mm or less and the distance (25) between cathode and anode internal surface is 3.0mm, or less.