Damaged Layer Control for atomic-precision etching

Abstract

As the semiconductor devices continues to be scaled down, it requires atomic level precision control of etching processes. Atomic layer etching (ALE) is one of the attractive methods to overcome the limitations of conventional processes. Especially, low damage etching is expected as one of the advantages of ALE. However, it is impossible to eliminate the generation of plasma-induced damages. In this presentation, I review the damage generation mechanisms in the underlying Si during the over etching of SiN ALE.