Fabrication of wires in silicon germanium material

Paul, D..J. , Cleaver, J.R.A. and Ahmed, H. (1993) Fabrication of wires in silicon germanium material. Microelectronic Engineering, 21(1), 349 - 352. (doi: 10.1016/0167-9317(93)90089-N)

Abstract

Reactive ion etching (RIE) of epitaxial, strained Si1-xGex alloys (x < 0.2) using SiCl4 and CF4 mixtures has been investigated. RIE using CF4/O2 plasmas was found to have a significant chemical effect resulting in undercut etch profiles. Anisotropic etch profiles were found from SiCl4 and SiCl4/CF4 plasmas indicating the physical etching nature of the chlorine based plasmas. The etch rates of the Si1-xGex alloys increased with increasing Ge content for the SiCl4 and SiCl4/CF4 etch systems. The addition of CF4 to SiCl4 plasmas was found to reduce surface roughness or "grass", which is a known problem in chlorine based etching of Si. Wires with widths below 100nm have been fabricated.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Paul, Professor Douglas
• Authors: Paul, D..J., Cleaver, J.R.A., and Ahmed, H.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Electronics and Nanoscale Engineering
• Journal Name: Microelectronic Engineering
• ISSN: 0167-9317
• ISSN (Online): 0167-9317
• Published Online: 01 May 2002