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Insights into the reactive ion etching mechanism of nanocrystalline diamond films as a function of film microstructure and the presence of fluorine gas

Source: J. Appl. Phys. 107, 044313 (2010); doi:10.1063/1.3309420

Published 23 February 2010

KEYWORDS and PACS
Keywords
PACS
  • 81.65.Cf
    Surface cleaning, etching, patterning
  • 52.77.Bn
    Etching and cleaning in plasmas
  • 68.35.B-
    Structure of clean solid surfaces
  • 68.55.-a
    Thin film structure and morphology
  • 61.80.Jh
    Ion radiation effects
  • 68.55.Ln
    Thin film defects and impurities
  • YEAR: 2010
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PUBLICATION DATA
ISSN:
1553-9644 (online)
Publisher:
AIP is a member of CrossRef AIP
Ju-Heon Yoon,1,2 Wook-Seong Lee,1 Jong-Keuk Park,1 Gyu Weon Hwang,1 Young-Joon Baik,1 Tae-Yeon Seong,2 and Jeung-hyun Jeong1
1Thin Film Materials Research Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, 39-1, Seoul 136-791, Republic of Korea
2Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 136-701, Republic of Korea
Inhomogeneous etching of nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) films, which produces nanopillars during reactive ion etching process, is problematic to the microfabrication of NCD films for the sensor and actuator applications. Thus, its origin was investigated for various initial microstructures of the NCD films, SF6/O2 gas ratios during etching, and plasma powers. The etched NCD film surface roughness became more pronounced (leading to larger pillar diameters and heights) for larger initial microstructural features (larger grain and cluster sizes), particularly at low plasma powers. The surface roughening was significantly reduced with the addition of SF6, almost disappearing at SF6/O2 of 5% to 10%. These results indicate that the etch rate was locally enhanced at the interfaces between grains or clusters, and the etch rate disparity between intragranular and intergranular (or cluster) carbons increased with decreasing ion energy, implying a chemical reaction rate-limited etching mechanism. The role of SF6 could be explained to reduce the energy barrier for the chemical reaction of intragranular carbons. Here we suggest that the etching rate is limited by an energy barrier that could be reduced by defect generation during ion bombardment or by catalytic radicals. ©2010 American Institute of Physics
History: Received 18 October 2009; accepted 9 January 2010; published 23 February 2010
Permalink: http://link.aip.org/link/?JAPIAU/107/044313/1

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