Feature Profile Evolution During Etching of SiO₂ in Radio-Frequency or Direct-Current Plasmas

We have developed a plasma etching simulator to investigate the evolution of pattern profiles in SiO₂ material under different plasma conditions. This model focuses on energy and angular dependent etching yield (physical sputtering in this paper), neutral and ion angular distributions, and reflection of ions or neutrals on the surface of a photoresist or SiO₂. The effect of positive charge accumulation on the surface of insulated mask or SiO₂ is studied and the charge accumulation contributes to a deflection of ion trajectory. The wafer profile evolution has been simulated using a cellular-automata-like method under radio-frequency (RF) bias and direct-current (DC) bias, respectively. On the basis of the critical role of angular distribution of ions or neutrals, the wafer profile evolution has been simulated for different variances of angles. Observed microtrenching has been well reproduced in the simulator. The ratio of neutrals to ions has been considered and the result shows that because the neutrals are not accelerated by an electric field, their energy is much lower compared with ions, so they are easily reflected on the surface of SiO2, which makes the trench shallower.