Rapid atomic layer etching of Al2O3 using sequential exposures of hydrogen fluoride and trimethylaluminum with no purging
Authors: Zywotko David R. , Faguet Jacques , George Steven M. 
Published: October 2018

A dramatic increase in the Al2O3 atomic layer etching (ALE) rate versus time was demonstrated using sequential, self-limiting exposures of hydrogen fluoride (HF) and trimethylaluminum (TMA) as the reactants with no purging. The normal purging expected to be required to prevent chemical vapor etching or chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is not necessary during the Al2O3 ALE. This purgeless, rapid atomic layer etching (R-ALE) was studied from 250 to 325 °C using various techniques. In situ quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) measurements monitored Al2O3 R-ALE at 300 °C. The Al2O3 R-ALE process produced linear etching versus number of R-ALE cycles. Each HF exposure fluorinates the Al2O3 substrate to produce an AlF3 surface layer. Each subsequent dose of TMA then undergoes a ligand-exchange transmetalation reaction with the AlF3 surface layer to yield volatile products. Using reactant partial pressures of HF = 320 mTorr and TMA = 160 mTorr, the fluorination and ligand-exchange reactions produced a mass change per cycle (MCPC) of −32.1 ng/(cm2 cycle) using sequential, 1 s exposures for both HF and TMA with no purging. This MCPC equates to a thickness loss of 0.99 Å/cycle or 0.49 Å/s. Comparison experiments using the same reactant exposures and purge times of 30 s yielded nearly identical MCPC values. These results indicate that the etch rates for Al2O3 R-ALE are much faster than for normal Al2O3 ALE because of shorter cycle times with no purging. Smaller MCPC values were also observed at lower reactant pressures for both Al2O3 R-ALE and Al2O3 ALE. The QCM studies showed that the Al2O3 R-ALE process was self-limiting versus reactant exposure. Ex situ spectroscopic ellipsometry and x-ray reflectivity (XRR) measurements revealed temperature-dependent etch rates from 0.02 Å/cycle at 270 °C to 1.12 Å/cycle at 325 °C. At lower temperatures, AlF3 growth was the dominant mechanism and led to an AlF3 atomic layer deposition (ALD) growth rate of 0.33 Å/cycle at 250 °C. The transition temperature between AlF3 growth and Al2O3 etching occurred at ∼270 °C. XRR scans showed that the Al2O3 ALD films were smoothed by Al2O3 R-ALE at temperatures ≥270 °C. Additionally, patterned wafers were used to compare Al2O3 R-ALE and normal Al2O3 ALE in high aspect ratio structures. Scanning electron microscope images revealed that the etching was uniform for both processes and yielded comparable etch rates per cycle in the high aspect ratio structures and on flat wafers. The HF and TMA precursors were also intentionally overlapped to explore the behavior when both precursors were present at the same time. Similar to ALD, where precursor overlap produces CVD, precursor overlap during Al2O3 ALE leads to AlF3 CVD. However, any AlF3 CVD growth that occurs during precursor overlap is removed by spontaneous AlF3 etching during the subsequent TMA exposure. This spontaneous AlF3 etching explains why no purging is necessary during R-ALE. R-ALE represents an important advancement in the field of thermal ALE by producing rapid etching speeds that will facilitate many ALE applications.