Patent ID: 8198197

Claim:
A plasma etching method for etching a surface of a substrate in which a metal nitride film and a silicon film have been respectively formed on a first base film and a second base film that had been side-by-side arranged, with surfaces of the metal nitride film and the silicon film being exposed, the plasma etching method comprising: a nitriding step in which a plasma obtained by making plasma a gas containing nitrogen is supplied onto the surface of the substrate so as to nitride at least a surface area of the silicon film; a first etching step, succeeding the nitriding step, in which a first etching plasma is supplied onto the surface of the substrate so as to etch the metal nitride film and to expose the first base film, the first etching plasma being selected such that an etching selection ratio of the metal nitride film relative to the silicon film containing the nitrided surface area is larger than 1, and that the first base film is not etched at all or is not substantially etched; and a second etching step, succeeding the first etching step, in which a second etching plasma is supplied onto the surface of the substrate so as to etch the silicon film and to expose the second base film, the second etching plasma being selected such that an etching selection ratio of the silicon film containing the nitrided surface area relative to the second base film is larger than that of the first etching plasma, and that the first base film is not etched at all or is not substantially etched, wherein the substrate includes a p-type layer structure part for forming a p-type transistor and a n-type layer structure part for forming a n-type transistor, the p-type layer structure part includes a n-type silicon layer, the first basefilm, the metal nitride film and the silicon film in this order from below, the n-type layer structure includes a p-type silicon layer, the second base film and the silicon film in this order from below, the silicon film in the p-type layer structure part and the silicon film in the n-type layer structure part are etched by a process gas composed of a gas containing carbon and fluorine and of an oxygen gas, until the metallic nitride film on the p-type layer part is exposed, whereby a recess is formed, before the nitriding step, and in the second etching step, the second base film is exposed such that upper end positions of the first base film and the second base film are aligned.