Cyrogenic etching of silicon is envisaged to enable better control over plasma processing in microelectronics and to limit plasma induced damage for features beyond the 14 nm technology node. We here present results of plasma modelling for a SF6/O2/SiF4 plasma and of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations for predicting surface interactions, together with results of etch experiments for validation.

Tin Sn has the advantage of delivering higher conversion efficiency compared to other fuel materials e.g., Xe or Li in an extreme ultraviolet EUV source, a necessary component for the leading next generation lithography. However, the use of a condensable fuel in a lithography system leads to some additional challenges for maintaining a satisfactory lifetime of the collector optics. A critical i...

Controlling the thermal radiation spectra of materials is one of the promising ways to advance energy system efficiency. It is well known that the thermal radiation spectrum can be controlled through the introduction of periodic surface microstructures. Herein, a method for the large-area fabrication of periodic microstructures based on multi-step wet etching is described. The method consists o...

Coatings are known to be one of the more suited strategies to tailor the interface between medical devices and the surrounding cells and tissues once implanted. The development of coatings and the optimization of their adhesion and stability are of major importance. In this work, the influence of plasma etching of the substrate on a plasma fluorocarbon ultrathin coating has been investigated wi...

The etching of uranium oxide films was investigated with a non-thermal, atmospheric pressure plasma fed with a mixture of 2.0 kPa carbon tetrafluoride, 880.0 Pa oxygen and 97.2 kPa helium. Etching rates of up to 4.0 lm/min were recorded at a 200 C sample temperature. X-ray photoemission spectroscopy revealed that the etched surface was highly fluorinated, containing UOF4 species during the etch...

Several silicon dioxide chemical vapor deposition processes using high density plasma sources have been recently proposed in the literature [4,6] for deposition of self-planarizing inter-level dielectric deposition. All these processes exhibit the competitive effect of simultaneous deposition and etching mechanisms. In previous papers [1,2,3], a level set approach was developed for etching and ...

Recent studies have all shown that membranes fracture internally during freeze-etching or freeze-cleaving, confirming that 2 internal membrane faces are produced. That these faces are not complementary is one of the main features of freeze-etch replicas still requiring explanation. In the present investigation certain plasma membranes in light organs of the New Zealand glow worm are found to be...

The objectives of this study were to characterize change in surface properties of tetragonal zirconia polycrystals (TZP) after hydrophilic treatment, and to determine the effect of such changes on initial attachment of osteoblast-like cells. Roughened surfaces were produced by alumina-blasting and acid-etching. Hydrophilic treatment comprised application of immediately after blasting and acid-e...

With the increasing interest in establishing directional etching methods capable of atomic scale resolution for fabricating highly scaled electronic devices, the need for development and characterization of atomic layer etching processes, or generally etch processes with atomic layer precision, is growing. In this work, a flux-controlled cyclic plasma process is used for etching of SiO2 and Si ...