RIE790

Reactive ion etchers are dry etch tools used to remove material from a substrate by plasma-based reactions while a mask protects selected areas. Reactive ion etchers are part of pattern transfer in microfabrication. Parallel plate RIE tools generally combine chemical reaction with ion-assisted bombardment to shape etched features.

In a parallel plate reactive ion etcher, process gas is introduced into a vacuum chamber and energized into a plasma. Reactive species formed in the plasma chemically convert exposed material into volatile products, while the electric field drives ion bombardment toward the wafer surface. Masked regions remain protected, so the open regions are transferred into the underlying film.

Reactive ion etching sits after a masking layer has been patterned and before later steps that use the etched structure. Reactive ion etching is used when a fabricated pattern must be transferred into an underlying film. Dry etch process development generally considers mask behavior, material selectivity, and the response of the landing material beneath the film being etched.

Reactive ion etchers are used to transfer lithographically defined features into functional films during device and microstructure fabrication. Reactive ion etchers are commonly applied where controlled dry removal of semiconductor, dielectric, or metal material is needed and where mask selectivity and profile control matter to the resulting structure.