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Submicronic etched features of silicon with high aspect ratio obtained by cryogenic plasma deep-etching through perforated polymer thin films

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 April 2015

A. Vital
Affiliation:
ICMN, UMR 7374 CNRS /Université d’Orléans, 1b rue de la Férollerie, CS 40059, 45071 Orléans Cedex 2, France GREMI, UMR 7344 CNRS /Université d’Orléans, 14 Rue d'Issoudun - BP6744, 45067 Orléans Cedex 2, France
M. Boufnichel
Affiliation:
STMicroelectronics, 10 rue Thales de Milet, 37100 Tours, France
R. Dussart
Affiliation:
GREMI, UMR 7344 CNRS /Université d’Orléans, 14 Rue d'Issoudun - BP6744, 45067 Orléans Cedex 2, France
N. Gosset
Affiliation:
GREMI, UMR 7344 CNRS /Université d’Orléans, 14 Rue d'Issoudun - BP6744, 45067 Orléans Cedex 2, France
P. Lefaucheux
Affiliation:
GREMI, UMR 7344 CNRS /Université d’Orléans, 14 Rue d'Issoudun - BP6744, 45067 Orléans Cedex 2, France
C. Sinturel
Affiliation:
ICMN, UMR 7374 CNRS /Université d’Orléans, 1b rue de la Férollerie, CS 40059, 45071 Orléans Cedex 2, France
T. Tillocher
Affiliation:
GREMI, UMR 7344 CNRS /Université d’Orléans, 14 Rue d'Issoudun - BP6744, 45067 Orléans Cedex 2, France
M. Vayer
Affiliation:
ICMN, UMR 7374 CNRS /Université d’Orléans, 1b rue de la Férollerie, CS 40059, 45071 Orléans Cedex 2, France
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Abstract

We report the preparation of nanomasks for silicon plasma etching, which is not based on full top-down approaches such as conventional lithographic process. We used laterally phase separated polymers thin films (30 to 100 nm thick) obtained from immiscible polymer blends of poly(styrene) PS and poly(lactide) PLA, PS being the major component, spin-coated onto silicon substrates. Despite the high incompatibility of the two polymers, submicronic domains were obtained in the film. The selective extraction of the minor component (PLA) led to the formation of a perforated layer of PS at the top of the silicon substrate, and was used as a mask for the selective etching of the silicon. For that purpose, we used a cryogenic etching process where the silicon substrate was cooled at a cryogenic temperature (∼ -120°C) and exposed to a monocyclic SF6/O2 plasma. It was possible to etch anisotropic profiles with vertical sidewalls and minimal defects. Etched feature with an aspect ratio of 7 were obtained in these conditions. We determined that the selectivity of etching (Si/PS) was 11:1, with a silicon etching rate of 0.8 µm/min. The selectivity of these masks was further increased when using the inorganic replicas of the polymer template (50:1) or with chemical modifications of the PS by RuO4 (80:1), allowing for increased aspect ratio etched features (up to 20 in the latter case). Optimized etching processes (such as STiGer process) were also used in order to improve the reproducibility and robustness of the method.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2015 

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References

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