Patent ID: 11869747
Assignee: VELVETCH, LLC
Field: Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 27:
28. A method for atomic layer etching of a substrate via an electron wavefront, the method comprising:
generating a volume of gaseous plasma including diluent species, reactive species, and electrons of a uniform steady state composition in a positive column of a DC plasma proximate a substrate, thereby developing a floating potential at a surface of the substrate;
adjusting the floating potential to a reference potential; and
applying to the substrate, via a periodic biasing signal referenced to the reference potential, a sequence of a positive biasing potential followed by a negative biasing potential and further followed by a zero biasing potential that is equal to the reference potential, thereby causing arrival of an electron wavefront with uniform energy and density across the surface of the substrate at arrival times predetermined by the periodic biasing signal;
wherein
at each of the arrival times, the electron wavefront stimulates electron transitions in a corrosion layer formed on the surface of the substrate, thereby etching away one atomic layer of the substrate.