Effect of Low-Frequency Power on Etching Characteristics of 6H-SiC in C ₄ F ₈ /Ar Dual-Frequency Capacitively Coupled Plasma

Dry etching of 6H silicon carbide (6H-SiC) wafers in a C ₄ F ₈ /Ar dual-frequency capacitively coupled plasma (DF-CCP) was investigated. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to measure the SiC surface structure and compositions, respectively. Optical emission spectroscopy (OES) was used to measure the relative concentration of F radicals in the plasma. It was found that the roughness of the etched SiC surface and the etching rate are directly related to the power of low-frequency (LF) source. At lower LF power, a smaller surface roughness and a lower etching rate are obtained due to weak bombardment of low energy ions on the SiC wafers. At higher LF power the etching rate can be efficiently increased, but the surface roughness increases too. Compared with other plasma dry etching methods, the DF-CCP can effectively inhibit C x F y films’ deposition, and reduce surface residues.