Patent ID: 11942306
Assignee: VELVETCH, LLC
Field: Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 20:
21. 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, 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.