This book has been written as part of a series of scientific books being
published by Plenum Press. The scope of the series is to review a chosen
topic in each volume. To supplement this information, the abstracts to
the most important references cited in the text are reprinted, thus
allowing the reader to find in-depth material without having to refer to
many additional publications. This volume is dedicated to the field of
dry (plasma) etching, as applied in silicon semiconductor processing.
Although a number of books have appeared dealing with this area of
physics and chemistry, these all deal with parts of the field. This book
is unique in that it gives a compact, yet complete, in-depth overview of
fundamentals, systems, processes, tools, and applications of etching
with gas plasmas for VLSI. Examples are given throughout the fundamental
sections, in order to give the reader a better insight in the meaning
and magnitude of the many parameters relevant to dry etching. Electrical
engineering concepts are emphasized to explain the pros and cons of
reactor concepts and excitation frequency ranges. In the description of
practical applications, extensive use is made of cross-referencing
between processes and materials, as well as theory and practice. It is
thus intended to provide a total model for understanding dry etching.
The book has been written such that no previous knowledge of the subject
is required. It is intended as a review of all aspects of dry etching
for silicon semiconductor processing.