Patent ID: 7638435

Claim:
A vapor etching method comprising: (a) locating a sample to be etched in a main chamber; (b) following step (a), causing atmosphere inside the main chamber to be evacuated therefrom; (c) following the evacuation of the main chamber, causing etching gas to be input into the evacuated main chamber; (d) following the introduction of etching gas into the evacuated main chamber in step (c), causing the etching gas to be evacuated from the main chamber; (e) following the evacuation of the etching gas from the main chamber in step (d), causing cooling/purging gas to be input into the main chamber; (f) following the introduction of the cooling/purging gas into the main chamber in step (e), causing the cooling/purging gas to be evacuated from the main chamber; and (g) repeating steps (c)-(f) until the sample has been etched to a desired extent, wherein the etching gas is xenon difluoride, krypton difluoride, or a halogen fluoride; and the cooling/purging gas is helium, nitrogen, or argon.