Materials and methods for plasma etching of oxides and nitrides of silicon.

摘要

A method for etching a layer of inorganic insulating material 55 formed on a semiconductor wafer 50 and containing silicon as the principal metallic element. The method involves disposing a wafer 50 on one of a pair of electrode structures 261 in a closed chamber 260. A reactive gas 266 mixture comprising principally a fluorocarbon gas doped with a preselected quantity of carbon dioxide is supplied to the chamber 260.

Radio frequency 263 electrical energy is supplied to one of the electrode structures 261 to create a plasma of the reactive gas mixture for chemically attacking the insulating material 55.