Interhalogen plasma chemistries for dry etch patterning of Ni, Fe, NiFe and NiFeCo thin films

IClrAr and IBrrAr plasmas operated in an inductively coupled plasma ICP.source have been examined for dry etching of Ni, Fe, NiFe and NiFeCo. The removal of the Fe etch products limits the etch rates under most conditions, but rates of ;500 A° miny1 are obtained for both NiFe and NiFeCo in both chemistries. The etched surfaces are smooth atomic force microscopy root-mean-square roughness -1 nm. over a broad range of plasma conditions, with small residual halogen concentrations F2 at.%.. q1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.