Using Auger Electron Spectroscopy for Chemical Analysis of Plasma Damage Induced by Reactive Ion Etching of SiO 2

• Published in: Japanese Journal of Applied Physics Vol. 37; no. 11R; p. 6199
• Main Authors: Matsui, Miyako, Uchida, Fumihiko, Katsuyama, Kiyomi, Tokunaga, Takafumi, Kojima, Masayuki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.11.1998
• ISSN: 0021-4922; 1347-4065
• DOI: 10.1143/JJAP.37.6199

Surface damage induced by reactive ion etching (RIE) at the bottom of the pattern was investigated in terms of chemical information by Auger electron spectroscopy (AES). The Si-L 23 VV line shape was changed during the removal of the damage by chemical dry etching after RIE. The relationship between the changing of the Si-L 23 VV line shape and the chemically damaged layer, which contains SiO x and SiC, was investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and AES for nonpatterned wafers. The height of the peaks at 90 eV and 79 eV in the Si-L 23 VV spectra were correlated with the amounts of chemical damage in the layer measured by XPS. The thickness of the residual SiO x damage was estimated from the relationship between the Si-L 23 VV line shape and the thickness of the SiO x layer. This relationship was applied to the chemical analysis for patterned wafers. The line shape of the Si-L 23 VV spectrum from the bottom of the pattern was also changed as the chemical-dry-etching time increased.