Characterization of stationary and rotating magnetic fields in an MERIE

Summary form only given. Magnetically enhanced reactive ion etchers (MERIE) have been shown to be useful for etching half micron features and below. The benefits of adding a magnetic field are two fold: a higher plasma density and low ion energies. Rotation of the magnetic field results in excellent etch uniformities. The etch rate uniformity across the blanket and thermal oxide wafers was studied for stationary and rotating magnetic fields under a variety of typical contact etch processing conditions. The plasma uniformity has been mapped through measurement of the wafer etch pattern under conditions of a stationary B field. Of particular interest is the correlation between the instantaneous plasma uniformity and the resulting (time averaged) uniformity seen by the wafer as the B field is rotated. Process conditions that gave not only the best etch uniformity but also exhibit the best instantaneous plasma uniformity were the goal of the study.