Simulation Study on the Etching Mechanism of the Bosch Process

Abstract

In this study, the mechanisms of the three steps (the polymer deposition step, the polymer etching step and the Si etching step) that constitute the Bosch process were investigated. The effects of radicals and ions on each step were quantitatively analyzed by comparing the simulated aspect ratio dependency of the deposition or etch rate with the experimental results. In the polymer deposition step, fluorocarbon polymer is deposited by chemical reactions of CF(x) radicals, of which the reaction probability is 0.13. Although the polymer etching step and the Si etching step were conducted under the same conditions, the etching mechanisms of polymer and Si were found to be quite different. In the polymer etching step, both chemical etching and physical sputter-etching contribute to the polymer etching. Whereas, in the Si etching step, Si is chemically etched by F radicals, of which the reactivity is greatly increased by the bombardment of energetic ions.