INVESTIGATION OF DIAMOND ETCHING BY A MICROWAVE
PLASMA-ASSISTED SYSTEM
By
Dzung Tri Tran

A DISSERTATION
Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
For the degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Electrical Engineering
2010

ABSTRACT
INVESTIGATION OF DIAMOND ETCHING BY A MICROWAVE
PLASMA-ASSISTED SYSTEM
By
Dzung Tri Tran

Diamond deposition technology advances have opened several potential applications for
diamond-based devices and components. Many diamond applications, such as micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) fabrication and electronic devices, require the micro-structuring of
the diamond and other applications, such as optical and thermal management components,
require smoothing the diamond surface. Because of the high chemical inertness property of
diamond, a key technique for micro-structuring and surface modification of diamond is plasmaassisted etching. The objective of this study is to investigate and develop processes and the
associated understanding of plasma-assisted etching of diamond for micro-structuring and
smoothing of diamond substrates.
The etching of three types of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) diamond including
nanocrystalline diamond (NCD), microcrystalline diamond (MCD) and single crystal diamond
(SCD) is investigated using a 2.45 GHz microwave plasma-assisted etching reactor system. The
plasma reactor has a 25 cm diameter discharge located inside a 30 cm diameter cavity applicator
and it has an independent rf bias capability for the substrate holder that facilitates ion energy
controlled reactive ion etching at low pressures. The feed gases for the etching process include
mixtures of oxygen (O2), sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), and argon (Ar). The etching reactor
operation is investigated for both magnetized electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) and non-

magnetized plasma operation for the pressure ranges of 1-40 mTorr and 4-100 mTorr,
respectively. The plasma characteristics are investigated using visual plasma discharge
observations and single Langmuir probe measurements. For both ECR and non-magnetized
plasma reactor operation, a high density plasma with charge particle densities of
1011  2 x1012 cm  3 is obtained.

The etch rate, anisotropic etching profile, and surface roughness are measured versus input
etching reactor parameters including pressure, substrate bias, microwave power and gas
mixtures. Anisotropic etching is demonstrated and the measured etching rates range from 4 - 15
µm/h. A highly anisotropic etching profile is obtained at a pressure of 4 mTorr. The selectivity of
the plasma-assisted diamond etching process is measured for various mask materials including
aluminum, gold, titanium, silicon dioxide and silicon nitride. Aluminum gave the highest
selectivity with a value of 56.
The use of the plasma-assisted diamond etching process is also investigated for the
smoothing or polishing of rough microcrystalline diamond (MCD) surfaces. Three plasmaassisted polishing methods investigated include the use of (1) plasma-assisted etching of MCD
films coated with a sacrificial layer and etched with a selectivity of one, (2) photo-resist reflow
on the rough MCD surface to expose the high portions of the MCD sample, and (3) microroughing of the surface by plasma-assisted etching prior to mechanical polishing. The surface
roughness reduction rate and the final surface roughness obtained by the three techniques are
studied and comparisons are made. The plasma-assisted smoothing of MCD samples from a
surface roughness of 3800 nm down to 50 nm is demonstrated.

Copyright by
Dzung Tri Tran
2010

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author wishes to express his sincere appreciation to Professor Dr. Timothy Grotjohn
for his guidance, encouragement and support throughout the development of this research and
writing of this dissertation. I would also like to thank other members of the author’s guidance
committee: Professor Dr. Jes Asmussen, Professor Dr. Donnie Reinhard and Professor Dr. Greg
M. Swain for their valuable assistant and support with the writing of this dissertation. The author
would like to thank Dr. Thomas Schuelke, Michael Becker, Lars Haubold, David King, Tracey
Hock and Kagan Yaran for their encouragement and support. In addition, the author would like
to thank Professor Dr. Stanley L. Flegler, Dr. Tim Hogan and Dr. Carol Flegler for their hours of
discussion and/or training. The author would like to thank Dr. Ning Xi and his students: Jiangbo
Zhang and King Lai for help me with the AFM images. The author would also like to thank Mr.
Brian Wright, Karl Dersch and Mrs. Roxanne Peacock for their technical support. Last the author
would like to thank all friends and co-worker: Charlee Fansler, Shannon Demlow, Stanley Zuo,
K.W. Hemawan, Jeffri J Narendra, Jing Lu, Yajun Gu, Nutthamon Suwanmonkha, Chandra
Romel, Muhammad Ajimal Khan, Muhammad Farhan, Konrad Loewe, Christina Palm and
Mitchell Parr for providing me with their knowledge.
My deepest thanks are extended to my family: Dad, Mom, Sisters and Brothers for their
loves which have brought me up to this point. I would also like to special thank my wife and son
for their loves and support throughout my graduate study at Michigan State University.

v

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES……………………………………….…….…………………………….…....x
LIST OF FIGURES………………………..…………………………..…………………………xi
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION ………………...……...………………………………………………………1
1.1
Motivation…........…………………………………………………………………1
1.2
Research Objective………………......……………………………………………3
1.3
Outline of Dissertation…………………….....……………………………………3
CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW…………………...……………………………………………………5
2.1
Introduction…………......………….………………………………………..……5
2.2
CVD Diamond Review………………… ..... ...............………………………..…5
2.2.1 Crystal Structure….............…......……...……………….…………….………7
2.2.2 CVD Diamond Deposition…………..............……...………..…………….…8
2.3
Diamond Etching Chemistry...............................................……………………….9
2.3.1 Diamond Etching Mechanism…...........................……...….………………….9
2.3.2 The Diamond Etching Parameters………………….…...…...…….…………11
2.4
Diamond Etching System………………………………..........................………14
2.4.1 Reactive Ion Etching.…...……..........................................................…………14
2.4.2 Inductive Coupling Plasma Etching (ICP).........................................…………16
2.4.3 Reactive Ion Beam Etching (RIBE)...................................................…………17
2.4.4 ECR Plasma Etching…..……………................................................…………18
2.5
Literature Review of Diamond Etching…...............................................………19
2.6
Literature Review of Diamond Smoothing..............................................………33
2.7
Summary……………..............................................................................………36
CHAPTER 3
EXPERRIMENTAL EQUIPMENT AND METHODS …………....…..….……………………37
3.1
Introduction..............................................................................................………37
3.2
Microwave Plasma-Assisted Etching Systems.........................................………37
3.2.1 The Microwave Power System.............................................................………38
3.2.2 The Microwave Plasma Reactor...........................................................………40
3.2.3 The Vacuum System.............................................................................………43
3.2.4 The Gas Delivery and Cooling System.................................................………45
3.2.5 The Performance of Plasma Etcher.......................................................………46
3.3
Other Related Instruments........................................................................………50
CHAPTER 4
PLASMA ETCHING THEORY……..........................................…...…..………………………54
4.1
Introduction.............................................................................................………54

vi

4.2
Plasma Etching Fundamentals…….................................................................…54
4.2.1 Plasma Parameters................................................................................………55
4.2.2 Theory of Microwave Propagation.......................................................………58
4.2.3 Plasma Wall Interaction.......................................................................………60
4.2.4 Ion Kinetic…………………................................................................………62
4.2.5 Plasma Density………………….........................................................………66
4.2.6 Diffusion Process………………….…….............................................………67
4.3
Plasma Etching Mechanism……….................................................................…70
4.3.1 Sputtering.............................................................................................………73
4.3.2 Chemical Etching....................................................................................…..…77
4.3.3 Ion-Enhanced Energetic Etching.............................................................…..…78
4.3.4 Ion-Enhanced Inhibitor Etching..............................................................…..…79
4.4
Surface Interaction of Plasma Etching..............................................................…80
4.4.1 Generating Etchant Species...................................................................………80
4.4.2 Adsorption and Desorption Process ......................................................………83
4.4.3 Chemical Kinetics .................................................................................………85
4.4.4 Surface Kinetic Models .........................................................................………87
4.4.5 A Simple Empirical Model for Diamond Etching ................................………90
CHAPTER 5
CHRACTERIZATION OF PLASMA ETCHER.............................................………..…….…100
5.1
Introduction.................................................................................................…..100
5.2
Plasma Behavior……………………………….................................................100
5.3
Plasma Diagnostic using SLP ....................................................................……111
5.3.1 Introduction .......................................................................................………111
5.3.2 The SLP Structure ..............................................................................………112
5.3.3 The SLP Setup ....................................................................................………114
5.3.4 Theory of SLP....................................................................................………116
d 2I
5.3.5 Method to Measure the
..............................................................………121
2
dV
5.4
The SLP Results..........................................................................................……122
5.4.1 EEDF versus Pressure...........................................................................………122
5.4.2 Plasma Density.....................................................................................………143
5.4.3 Electron Temperature............................................................................………145
5.4.4 Compare of plasma Density between 17.8 and 30.5 cm Reactor.............……146
5.5
Summary……..............................................................................................……148
CHAPTER 6
DIAMOND ETCHING EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS…………………..……………………149
6.1
Introduction................................................................................................……149
6.2
The Input Parameters..................................................................................……149
6.2.1 Microwave Power………………….......................................................……149
6.2.2 Pressure...................................................................................................……150
6.2.3 Gas Flow Rate........................................................................................……150
6.2.4 Substrate Bias.........................................................................................……151

vii

6.3
Experimental Etching Results....................................................................……151
6.3.1 Etch Rates………………………….......................................................……151
6.3.2 Anisotropic …………….…………….…...............................................……162
6.3.3 Mask Selectivity ……….…………….…...............................................……179
6.3.4 Surface Morphology ……...………….…...............................................……181
6.3.5 Surface Roughness ……….………….…...............................................……187
6.3.6 The Radial Uniformity …...….……….…...............................................……190
6.4
Summary…………………….....................................................................……194
CHAPTER 7
DIAMOND SMOOTHING……………………….................……......…..……………………196
7.1
Introduction................................................................................................……196
7.2
Diamond Smoothing Mechanism................................................................……197
7.2.1 Micro-Chipping…………………….......................................................……198
7.2.2 Phase Transformation...............................................................................……199
7.2.3 Diffusion Carbon Atoms..........................................................................……186
7.2.4 Evaporation/Ablating...............................................................................……200
7.2.5 Sputtering………….................................................................................……201
7.2.6 Chemical Reaction…...............................................................................……201
7.2.7 Summary……………..............................................................................……202
7.3
Techniques Used to Polish Diamond Film..........................................................204
7.3.1 Mechanical Polishing……………………...............................................……204
7.3.2 Thermal-Chemical Polishing………….…...............................................……207
7.3.3 CAMP Polishing... ..…….…………….…...............................................……209
7.3.4 Laser Polishing …………....………….…...............................................……210
7.3.5 Dynamic Friction Polishing..………….…...............................................……211
7.3.6 Electrical Discharge Machining……….…...............................................……212
7.4
MCD Planarization using Plasma Etcher……………................................……213
7.4.1 Introduction………..……………………...............................................……213
7.4.2 Photo Resist Reflow Method.……………..............................................……215
7.4.3 The Plasma Roughing for Mechanical Polishing.....................................……221
7.4.4 Plasma Assisted Etching with Selectivity of One....................................……225
7.5
Summary………………………………..……………................................……233
CHAPTER 8
SUMMARY AND FUTURE RESEARCH...........................................…..……………………235
8.1
Summary of Findings..……………..………...............................................……235
8.2
Characterize the Plasma-Assisted Etching System......................................……235
8.2.1 Discharge Performance……………………….......................................……236
8.2.2 Plasma Diagnostic using SLP Probe………….......................................……236
8.3
Investigating the Diamond Etching Process……........................................……238
8.3.1 Etch Rate…………………..………………….......................................……238
8.3.2 Anisotropic Etch …………..………………….......................................……239
8.3.3 Mask Selectivity …………..………………….......................................……240
8.3.4 Etch Surface Morphology.. ..………………….......................................……240
8.4
Diamond Smoothing…………………………….......................................……241

viii

8.5
8.6

Future Research…….…..…….……….………..........................................……242
Conclusion……………...…….……….………..........................................……243

BIBLIOGRAPHY................................................................................…......………………….244

ix

LIST OF TABLES

TABLE 2.1: Material Properties of Diamond and Its Future Applications………………..…….06
TABLE 2.2: Literature Review of Plasma-Assisted Diamond Etching ………..……………….20
TABLE 6.1: Metallization Techniques…...…………………………………...…………..……167
TABLE 6.2: Mask Selectivity Comparison between Narrow and Wide...............………..……176
TABLE 6.3: Etch Selectivity of Several of Mask Materials………….............…………..……176
TABLE 6.4: Comparison of NCD Etching Rates………….………….............…………..……178
TABLE 6.5: The Series of Experiment Input Variables….………………......…………..….…189
TABLE 6.6: The Etched Surface Smoothness Results….…….………………..….……..….…193
TABLE 7.1: Multi-Layers Coating of SOG Surface Roughness on Silicon………..……….…231
TABLE 7.2: The Selectivity of SOG versus SF6 ….…..….…...……........……………..….…233
.

x

LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE 2.1: Diamond Structure ...................................................................................................8
FIGURE 2.2: RIE Plasma System.................................................................................................15
FIGURE 2.3: ICP Plasma System.................................................................................................16
FIGURE 2.4: RIBE Plasma System..............................................................................................17
FIGURE 2.5: ECR Plasma System……………….......................................................................19
FIGURE 2.6: SEM Image the Anisotropic Etching of Single Crystal Diamond………………...26
FIGURE 2.7: SEM Image of the Single Crystal Diamond Emitter Tips Array............................27
FIGURE 2.8: SEM Images of Diamond Etched under Different Gas Ratio of CF4/ O2...............29
FIGURE 2.9: SEM Image of the Diamond Surface Etched without Mask.................................. 30
FIGURE 2.10: SEM Image of Anisotropic Etching Single Crystal Diamond………...………...31
FIGURE 2.11: SEM Images of Diamond Surfaces Etched…………….......................................33
FIGURE 3.1: Block Diagram of the Microwave Power System...................................................38
FIGURE 3.2 Block Diagram of Microwave Power System:........................................................ 39
FIGURE 3.3: Diagram of Microwave Plasma Reactor................................................................ 41
FIGURE 3.4: Magnets Ring Configuration.................................................................................. 42
FIGURE 3.5: The Vacuum System...............................................................................................43
FIGURE 3.6: The Gas Delivery and Cooling System...................................................................45
FIGURE 3.7: The Cavity Modes…………...................................................................................47
FIGURE 3.8: The Cavity Length Ls versus Microwave Power (pressure of 1 mTorr).…..…….48
FIGURE 3.9: The Cavity Length Ls versus Microwave Power (pressure of 10 mTorr)………..49
FIGURE 3.10: The Cavity Length Ls versus Microwave Power (pressure of 10 mTorr)………50

xi

FIGURE 4.1: Schematic of the Plasma Sheath Region………………………..…..………...…..60
FIGURE 4.2: Plasma Density and Potential across a Sheath…….……….……………………..61
FIGURE 4.3: Diagram of Etcher Plasma with RF Biasing ….….…….….…………….….……63
FIGURE 4.4: Vdc versus Vrf peak in Argon Plasma…….............................................................65
FIGURE 4.5: The Mechanism of Plasma Etching.........................................................................72
FIGURE 4.6: Sputtering Yield versus Ion Energy........................................................................75
FIGURE 4.7: Typical Profile of Trenching and Mask Erosion…..……………………...............76
FIGURE 4.8: A Simple of Diamond Etching Model .....……….……..…………..….….…........92
FIGURE 5.1: Plasma Shape Imaging Set Up..............................................................................101
FIGURE 5.2: The Plasma Shape Picture as Observed from Below............................................102
FIGURE 5.3: The ECR Plasma Shape variation with Cavity Length.........................................103
FIGURE 5.4: The ECR Plasma Shape variation with the Microwave Power.............................104
FIGURE 5.5: The ECR Plasma Shape variation with Short Position and Modes………...........104
FIGURE 5.6: Plasma Shape versus Gas Mixtures.......................................................................105
FIGURE 5.7: Plasma Shape versus Pressures….........................................................................106
FIGURE 5.8: Plasma Shape versus Microwave Power for a Gas Mixture.................................107
FIGURE 5.9: Plasma Shape versus Reflected Microwave Power………...................................108
FIGURE 5.10: Plasma Shape versus Cavity Length with a Gas Mixture of...............................109
FIGURE 5.11: Non-ECR Plasma Shape versus Pressures TM 012 …………………………....110
FIGURE 5.12: Non-ECR Plasma Shape versus Pressures TM 013 ……………………............111
FIGURE 5.13: Single Langmuir Probe I-V Curve………………. ……………………............112
FIGURE 5.14: Single Langmuir Probe Structure..………………. ……………........................113
FIGURE 5.15: Single Langmuir Probe Set Up…..………………. ……………........................114
xii

FIGURE 5.16: The SLP Probe measurement Diagram…….……. ……………........................115
FIGURE 5.17: Magnified View of Small Area near SLP Probe... ……….……........................116
FIGURE 5.18: EEDF at Pressure of 4 mTorr (ECR)………….................. ……………............123
FIGURE 5.19: EEDF (Log Plot) at Pressure of 4 mTorr (ECR)………….....…………............124
FIGURE 5.20: EEDF at Pressure of 4 mTorr (Non-ECR)…...... ...……………………............125
FIGURE 5.21: EEDF (Log Plot) at Pressure of 4 mTorr (Non-ECR)……………….................126
FIGURE 5.22: EEDF at Pressure of 10 mTorr (ECR)………...... …………..…........................127
FIGURE 5.23: EEDF (Log Plot) at Pressure of 10 mTorr (ECR)……..….…………................128
FIGURE 5.24: EEDF at Pressure of 10 mTorr (Non-ECR)…..... ...……………………...........129
FIGURE 5.25: EEDF (Log Plot) at Pressure of 10 mTorr (Non-ECR)…………………...........130
FIGURE 5.26: EEDF at Pressure of 15 mTorr (ECR)….……....... ……………………............131
FIGURE 5.27: EEDF (Log Plot) at Pressure of 15 mTorr (ECR)…………...……………........132
FIGURE 5.28: EEDF at Pressure of 15 mTorr (Non-ECR)….... ...……………........................133
FIGURE 5.29: EEDF (Log Plot) at Pressure of 15 mTorr (Non-ECR)………………...............134
FIGURE 5.30: EEDF at Pressure of 25 mTorr (ECR)….……....... ……………………............135
FIGURE 5.31: EEDF (Log Plot) at Pressure of 25 mTorr (ECR)……………….…...…...........136
FIGURE 5.32: EEDF at Pressure of 25 mTorr (Non-ECR)….... ...……………………............137
FIGURE 5.33: EEDF (Log Plot) at Pressure of 25 mTorr (Non-ECR)…………………...........138
FIGURE 5.34: EEDF at Pressure of 45 mTorr (ECR)….……....... ……………………............139
FIGURE 5.35: EEDF (Log Plot) at Pressure of 45 mTorr (ECR)……….…………...…...........140
FIGURE 5.36: EEDF at Pressure of 45 mTorr (Non-ECR)….... ...……………………............141
FIGURE 5.37: EEDF (Log Plot) at Pressure of 45 mTorr (Non-ECR)…………………...........142
FIGURE 5.38: The Plasma Density versus Pressure……………………………………...........145

xiii

FIGURE 5.39: The Electron Temperature versus Pressure…………..…………………...........146
FIGURE 5.40: Comparison the Plasma Density versus Pressure………….……………...........147
FIGURE 6.1: Etch Rate versus Microwave Power………………..…………………................152
FIGURE 6.2: Etch Rate versus Pressure (ECR)…………………………..…………................154
FIGURE 6.3: Etch Rate versus Substrate Bias…..………………………..…………................155
FIGURE 6.4: Etch Rate versus Substrate Bias…..……………..….……………..….................157
FIGURE 6.5: Etch Rate versus Argon (ECR)….…..……………………..…………................158
FIGURE 6.6: Etch Rate versus SF6 …..……………..…………...............................................160
FIGURE 6.7: SEM Cross Section Image to Measure the Anisotropic Angle.............................162
FIGURE 6.8: Anisotropic Angle versus Pressure…………………………................................163
FIGURE 6.9: A Highly Anisotropic Angle Profile (NCD).………………………....................164
FIGURE 6.10: A Highly Anisotropic Angle Profile (MCD).………………..….…...................165
FIGURE 6.11: A Highly Anisotropic Angle Profile (SCD).………..…..…………...................166
FIGURE 6.12: The Hard Mask Patterns…………………….………………..….…..................169
FIGURE 6.13: Aluminum Mask on NCD Sample………….………..………….…..................170
FIGURE 6.14: Gold Mask on NCD Sample...….……….……...…..….….................................170
FIGURE 6.15: Ti Mask on NCD Sample...….……….……….…....………….….....................171
FIGURE 6.16: SiO 2 Mask on NCD Sample...….………..…..…....….….................................171
FIGURE 6.17: Si3 N 4 Mask on NCD Sample...….……………….……….…....…..................172
FIGURE 6.18: Dimension Used for Dektak and SEM.………………..…..…..….....................173
FIGURE 6.19: Example of SEM Method……….…....………..…..…………..….....................175
FIGURE 6.20: Mask Pattern Transferred Used for All Mask Materials………………….........177
FIGURE 6.21: The Etch Selectivity versus the DC Substrate Bias…... ………………….........180
xiv

FIGURE 6.22: NCD and MCD Etched Surface…...……………….…... ………….…….........182
FIGURE 6.23: SEM Image of Spire Like Shape of Whiskers..….…...……………….….........183
FIGURE 6.24: Comparison of Whiskers Formed on the NCD.….…...……………….….........184
FIGURE 6.25: SCD Surface Etched without SF6 .…….………...…...……………….….........185
FIGURE 6.26: SEM Image of the NCD and MCD Etched Surface.………………......….........186
FIGURE 6.27: MCD Etched Surface.…..................................................................…...….........187
FIGURE 6.28: SCD Pre-Etch and Etched Surface.….............................................…....…........188
FIGURE 6.29: The Radial Etching Uniformity of Diamond.......................…………....…........191
FIGURE 6.30: The Etch Rate versus Pressure Model…….....................................…....…........192
FIGURE 6.31: Comparison the Etch Rate versus Pressure between Theory and Experiment....193
FIGURE 7.1: Diamond Polishing Mechanism Diagram……………..…...................................202
.
FIGURE 7.2: Mechanical Polishing Schematic………..…..…..................................................205
FIGURE 7.3: Thermal Polishing of Diamond Schematic…..….................................................207
FIGURE 7.4: The CAMP Polishing Schematic…..…………….................................................208
FIGURE 7.5: Laser Polishing Schematic…..…….……….........................................................210
FIGURE 7.6: Schematic of Dynamic Friction Polishing.............................................................211
FIGURE 7.7: Schematic of EDM Polishing................................................................................212
FIGURE 7.8: The Average Surface R a Analytical Function......................................................213
FIGURE 7.9: Diagram of Photo-resist Reflow Method………..................................................216
FIGURE 7.10: Smoothing MCD Process……………………...................................................218
FIGURE 7.11: The Peak High of Crystal versus Etching Time..................................................219
FIGURE 7.12: The Surface Roughness versus Etching Time.....................................................220
FIGURE 7.13: The Surface Morphology of MCD………………..............................................221

xv

FIGURE 7.14: Plasma Roughing of Surface for Mechanical Polishing......................................222
FIGURE 7.15: The Roughness versus Steps………………………….......................................223
FIGURE 7.16: The Surface Roughness versus Lapping Time………........................................224
FIGURE 7.17: The Selectivity of NCD and SiO 2 …………………..........................................226
FIGURE 7.18: The Selectivity of one Diamond Smoothing Process…......................................228
FIGURE 7.19: Optical Images of Polishing Process by Selectivity of One Method…………..229
FIGURE 7.20: The Surface Roughness versus Processing Cycles……………………………..230

xvi

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Motivation:

Diamond has been identified as the best material for high frequency and high power
electronic devices due to its excellent electrical and thermal properties [Davi, 1988]. Various
types of applications were also achieved with CVD diamond including sensors [Vesc, 1996], tips
for cold cathodes [Nish, 2000], electronic devices [Tsug, 2003], MEMs fabrication [Kohn,
1999], and micro-optics [Lee, 2008]. Due to advances in deposition technology, CVD diamond
can now be grown over large substrate areas for nano-crystalline diamond (NCD) and microcrystalline diamond (MCD) (150-200 mm) [King, 2008] or at high growth rates for single crystal
diamond (SCD) from 50-150 µm/h [Yan, 2002]. Those results have opened new potential
applications as the prices of diamond-based devices may start to drop down.

The key problem is how to structure or smooth the diamond film due to its chemical inertness
property? Etching diamond chemically (wet etch) or shaping mechanically is very hard. Most of
the previous studies to fabricate structures on diamond have used the dry etching (plasma
etching) method [Hwan, 2004]. Thus the etching of diamond using plasma plays an important
role in post-processing of CVD diamond.

1

The development of diamond based devices requires an increased control over the etching
process, e.g. control of the anisotropic etching, the etching rate and the surface roughness.
Microwave plasma assisted etching (Electron Cyclotron Resonance (ECR) or non-Electron
Cyclotron Resonance (non-ECR) is one of the suitable techniques to etch diamond because it
produces high density discharges and the ion energy is controllable. The high density discharges
are capable of achieving high etch rates over large substrates. The ion energy control allows
minimization of the damage to the surface and achievement of anisotropic etching. This research
is motivated to etch three types of CVD diamond: nano-crystalline diamond (NCD), microcrystalline diamond (MCD) and single crystal diamond (SCD).

Besides etching microstructures in diamond, another post-deposition requirement is surface
smoothing or polishing. From the nature of micro-crystalline diamond films, which have nonuniform grain sizes and randomly oriented crystal, the surface is usually rough depending on the
film thickness. For selected diamond based device applications such as optical or surface
acoustic wave devices, the surface roughness of the micro-crystalline diamond film needs to be
low (from a few nanometers to several hundred nanometers) to reduce the thermal resistance or
improve the optical transmission of diamond. The removal rate for conventional mechanical
polishing is very low (eg. as low ~10 nm/hr) [Mals, 1999]. This research also is motivated to
enhance the mechanical smoothing by plasma etching and shorten the time consumed for the
polishing task.

2

1.2 Research Objective
The goal of this research project is the development and investigation of plasma-assisted
etching of diamond for microstructure patterning and surface smoothing. The specific objectives
to accomplish this goal include:
1. Investigate the performance of a 12 inches cavity microwave plasma reactor etcher using
both ECR and non ECR excitation. Characterize the plasma etcher using plasma
diagnostics.
2. Develop and investigate diamond etching processes for high etch rate and anisotropic
etching for three types of CVD diamond including nano-crystalline diamond (NCD),
micro-crystalline diamond (micro-CD) and single crystal diamond (SCD). Study the
effect of various plasma parameters including pressure, rf bias and gas mixtures on the
etch rate and anisotropic etch profile.
3. Develop diamond microstructure patterning processes using different mask materials. In
particular, investigate the effect of feed gas variation in the etch gas mixture on the
selectivity and etched surface roughness.
4. Develop and investigate methods to smooth the surface of thick and rough MCD
diamond films from roughness of microns down to nanometers using plasma etching.

1.3 Outline of Dissertation
The overall research layout is described as follows. Following the brief introduction of the
need of CVD diamond and the techniques to grow CVD diamond, the diamond etching methods
3

as found in the literature are introduced in Chapter 2. The results of diamond etching including
etching rates, anisotropic etching, diamond etched surface roughness and techniques to smooth
diamond surface as found in literature are discussed. Chapter 3 describes the overall structure
and operation of the microwave plasma-assisted etcher used in this research. This chapter also
introduces other instruments used for masking diamond and for characterization purposes.
Chapter 4 discusses plasma etching theory. The plasma parameters that influence the etching
will be presented in this chapter. Chapter 4 also discusses the plasma, surface reaction kinetics
models and basic steps of plasma etching. A simple empirical model to calculate the diamond
etch rate is also investigated. Chapter 5 will discuss the characterization of the plasma etching
system. The plasma shape images are used to investigate the plasma behavior. The plasma
parameters are characterized using the single Langmuir probe. Chapter 6 describes the etching
results of the etcher machine. The effect of input parameters on the etch rate, anisotropic etching
profile, mask selectivity and the surface roughness are presented. Chapter 7 presents the
techniques to smooth the diamond surface. Finally, chapter 8 summarizes this dissertation and
makes some recommendation for future research.

4

CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW ON PLASMA-ASSISTED ETCHING OF DIAMOND

2.1 Introduction
This chapter reviews the methods used to etch diamond. It also discusses the results of
diamond etching from the research literature. First, a brief review of diamond applications and
the plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is presented.

2.2. CVD Diamond Review
Diamond exhibits a unique combination of mechanical, thermal, optical and chemical
properties such as high hardness, high thermal conductivity and chemical inertness. Table 2.1
shown the applications of diamond based on its superior properties.

5

Diamond Properties

Applications

Hardness

AFM probe, MEMS (Micro-relays, acceleration sensors).

High thermal conductivity

Heat sinks, heater for inkjet heat, flow sensors…

Transparency

Windows for infrared lasers and gyrotrons, optical lenses.

Absorption of UV light

UV sensor.

Radiation hardness

Detectors for neutrons and other particles, X-ray
lithography mask.

Large band gap

UV radiation devices for sterilization, light sources for
UV microscopes and displays.

High electronic properties

High power, high frequency transistors, high voltage
diodes, ion sensors, gas sensors and thermistor.

Field emission of electrons

Field emission display, field electron microscope.

Chemical electrodes

Materials sensors, bio sensors, electrochemical
decomposition of organic materials.

Biocompatibility

DNA tip, bioreactors, micro reactors.

Table 2.1: Material properties of diamond and its future applications [Koba, 2005]

6

2.2.1 Crystal Structure:
Diamond is an allotrope of carbon, joining graphite and the fullerenes as a major pure
carbon structure. Diamond structure as shown in Figure 2.1 consists of two face centered cubic
(fcc) lattices in the primitive unit cell, one at (000) and other at (1/4 1/4 1/4). Its cubic lattice
3

constant (a) at room temperature is 0.357 nm [Naza, 2000]. Each carbon atom has four sp bonds
with four other carbon atoms to form a tetrahedral structure. Four valence electrons in each
3

carbon atom form strong covalent bonds by sp hybridization. The atomic density of diamond is
1.77 x 10

23

3

cm- . The nearest neighbor bond length is 0.154 nm. In the cubic unit cell, there are

a total of eight carbon atoms and the packing fraction is 34%.

Packing fraction =

3
4  3 
4


8 x r 3 8 x 3   8 a 

 =
3
=
3
3
a
a

3 x
= 34%.
16

Because diamond has the shortest bond length of any three dimensional crystal and a high
bond energy of 711 kJ/mol, it is the hardest material compared with the others [Behr, 2005].
Diamond has no infrared (IR) absorption in the one phonon region, and only a single band is
1

observed in the Raman spectrum at 1333 cm- .

7

Figure 2.1: Diamond structure [source: http://newton.ex.ac.uk]

2.2.2 CVD Diamond Deposition
CVD diamond film can be synthesized using hot filament, DC plasma, molecular beam
epitaxial (MBE) and microwave plasma systems. Typical conditions to grow CVD diamond are:
0

substrate temperature range from 700-1200 C, chamber pressure at 20-400 Torr and methane
(CH4) concentration in gas input from 1-5% with respect to hydrogen (H2). Under these
conditions, at least more than 95% of the deposited film is crystalline diamond. Polycrystalline
diamond growth contains a high density of grain boundaries. The grain boundaries can contain
non-diamond carbon. Typical growth rates for CVD diamond deposition are from 0.02 µm/hr
to150 µm/hr depend on the deposition process and the deposition system type. At the low growth
rate, Watanabe et.al reported depositing a smooth diamond layer on a (100) surface of single
crystal diamond with the surface roughness Ra of 0.04 nm using a microwave plasma ASTex
8

system [Wata, 1999]. The growth rate was very low at19 nm/hr. The gas ratio of CH4/H2 was
0.025% at pressure of 25 Torr and 750 W microwave powers. High growth rates of CVD single
crystal diamond were reported from 50-150 µm/h [Yan, 2002]. CVD diamond film can grow on
different substrate materials such as Si, SiC, W, Mo, Cu, Pt, Ni, Ir and Pd. Besides methane
(CH4), other hydrocarbon gases such as acetylene (C2H2), ethylene (C2H4) or carbon dioxide
(CO2) have also been used to grow CVD diamond.

2.3 Diamond Etching Chemistry
2.3.1 Diamond Etching Mechanism
Plasma etching is a complex process involving several elementary processes. Some of
these processes include physical sputtering (ion bombardment), chemical reactions, ion- induced
(enhanced) etching, trenching, and side wall passive and mask erosion. Plasma-assisted etching
has two major components including chemical reactions and physical sputtering. Basically, the
chemical reaction processes consist of three sequential steps: 1. Adsorption of the etching
species; 2. Product formation and 3. Product desorption [Cobu, 1979]. For diamond etching in
oxygen plasmas, the chemical reactions associated with the removal of carbon atoms are given in
the equations below [Moga, 1978], [Koss, 1992]:

The first step is formation of reactive oxygen species in the plasma. These reactions
convert relatively inert oxygen molecules into very reactive radicals.

9

e + O2 → O + O + e

[2.1]

-

e + O2 → O + O

[2.2]

+

e + O2 → O2 + e + e

[2.3]

+

e + O2 → O + O

[2.4]

The reactive oxygen radicals then react with the diamond surface to form CO and CO2.

C + n O → COn (n = 1 to 2)

[2.5]

CO and CO2 are volatile products that are released from the etching surface.

The physical sputtering mechanism is dominated by the acceleration of energetic ions
formed in the plasma to the substrate surface at relatively high energies of 10‘s to 100‘s eV. Due
to the transfer of energy and momentum to the substrate, surface material is sputtered away. This
sputter mechanism tends to yield anisotropic profiles; however, it can result in significant
damage, rough surface morphology, trenching, poor selectivity, thus minimizing device
performance. In contrast, chemically dominated etch mechanisms rely on the formation of
reactive species in the plasma, which interact with the substrate to form volatile etch products
that are desorbed from the surface. These chemical processes tend to yield isotropic profiles and
low plasma-induced damage due to virtually no physical ion bombardment of the substrate

10

surface. However, they can also lead to lateral etching and a loss of critical dimensions thereby
reducing the utility of the process for device fabrication.
Alternatively, plasma etching relies on both chemical reactions and sputter desorption of
the etch products formed on the surface by energetic ions generated in the plasma. The chemical
and physical components of the etch mechanism are balanced to yield high resolution features
with minimal damage and optimum device performance. The dominant mechanism is determined
by the volatility of the reaction by-products and the energy of the ionized species. Thus, plasma
etching can include four keys process: 1. Sputtering (the material is purely physically removed
by energetic ions of the gas molecules); 2. Chemical etching (the material are removed by neutral
radicals formed in the plasma reacting with the substrate material to produce volatile species); 3.
Ion-enhanced chemical etching (energetic ions damage the etch surface, enhancing its reactivity);
4. Inhibitor controlled chemical etching (ion bombardment removes inhibitor layers from
surfaces allowing chemical etching to proceed).

2.3.2 The Diamond Etching Parameters

a) Etch Rate
The etch rate depends on the abundance of chemical active species and on the intensity of
ion bombardment. The overall etch rate is calculated as follow:

R  Rs  Rc  Ren  Rin

[2.6]

11

where Rs is etch rate from the sputtering; Rc is the chemical reaction etch rate; Ren is the ion
enhanced chemical etch rate; Rin is the removal inhibitor layer etching rate;
Equation (1) can be expanded as follows [Maye, 1982], [Flam, 1989]:
R = F1φs + FN (1-α-β) φN + FN α φ‘N + FN β φ‖N

[2.7]

2

where F1 is the ion flux (ion/cm s); FN is the flux of neutral reactive particles; φs is the
3

sputtering efficiency (cm /ion); φN is the chemical etch rate efficiency of neutral species
3

(cm /neutral); φ‘N is the chemical etch rate efficiencies of neutral species on the fraction α of the
surface which has been ion bombarded; φ‖N is the chemical etch rate efficiencies of neutral
species on the surface fraction β covered by an etch inhibitor.

b) Anisotropic etching profile
Anisotropic etching is an important parameter of the plasma etching process. Anisotropic
etching is primarily accomplished by positive ions with velocity directed toward the surface.
This occurs by stimulating chemisorptions (surface damage), or by increasing the product
formation or desorption. Another mechanism is the formation of recombinants which prevent
further etching of surfaces on which the ions are not incident. The degree of anisotropic is
directly related to the directionality of the incident ions. If several collisions occur before the
ions have passed the plasma sheath, the directionality may be partially lost. Since the sheath
electric field is perpendicular to the substrate and the scattering of the ions (when it occurs) is
12

random in direction, the field and collision induced forces on the ion compete in controlling the
ion kinetic energy transport directionality (ETD) [Zaro, 1984]. The ion ETD is defined as the
ratio of the random ion kinetic energy to the sum of its random and directed energy. When less
or no collisions occur in the sheath, the ion energy transport becomes more anisotropic (for large
mean free path or low pressure regime).

Another factor that strongly influences the anisotropic etching is the relative fluxes of
ions and neutral species [Cobu, 1983]. If the ratio of the neutral flux to the ion flux is very large,
the result is an isotropic etching process. In contrast if the ion-enhanced etching dominates, it is
an anisotropic etching process.

c) Selectivity
This etching parameter refers to the relative etch rate of the diamond film to the etch rate
of mask material (Al, SiO2…) under the same plasma conditions.

There are three mechanisms for achieving selectivity [Oehr, 1990]:
1. Selective formation of etch inhibiting layer on one of the materials. (i.e., the situation
where deposition is occurring on one material, while the other is etched under the same
conditions).
2. Non-reactivity of the mask materials in the particular plasma chemistry employed.
3. Selective formation of non-volatile products on etched mask material surface.

13

High selectivity of plasma etching is needed to produce the required pattern resolution with
minimal erosion of the mask material. A high selectivity is also needed if a thin mask material is
used to pattern a deep diamond etching thickness.

d) Surface smoothness:
The diamond surface during the plasma etching is exposed to energetic particles and
photon bombardment. Since etch anisotropy occurs due to ion bombardment, it is inevitable that
lattice damage and surface (or sidewall) disruption will be present [Pear, 1999]. Thus, diamondetched surface smoothness is an issue for plasma etching. A micro- masking effect can also cause
the roughness of diamond etched surfaces (grass-like, whisker, or spike cone) [Ando, 2002].

2.4 Diamond Etching Systems
Recently, many dry etching techniques such as reactive ion etching (RIE), inductively
coupled plasma etching (ICP), reactive ion beam etching (RIBE) and electron cyclotron
resonance (ECR) have been developed and used for patterning in diamond device fabrication.

2.4.1 Reactive Ion Etching (RIE)
In RIE, the substrate is placed on the powered electrode as shown in Fig. 2.2. Etching gas
is introduced into the chamber continuously. Plasma is initiated by applying a strong RF
(frequency of 13.56 MHz) electromagnetic field in the chamber. The oscillating electric field

14

ionizes the neutral gas molecules producing electrons, reactive species (radicals and ions) and
photons. On each half-cycle, the electrons are electrically accelerated in the chamber. This builds
up a large negative voltage on the substrate. The positive ions diffuse to the plasma edges and are
accelerated across the sheath to the substrate due to the large potential drop. Additionally,
reactive neutrals (radicals) can diffuse to the substrate surface. The energetic ions and neutral
radicals produce the plasma etching. Thus the RIE etching is enhanced by two processes:
physical sputtering and chemical reactions. The byproduct formed after the reactive ion etching
is desorbed from the surface. The volatile byproduct then is exhausted from the chamber.
9

10

-2

Typical pressures are from 4-150 mTorr and plasma density is around 10 – 10 cm .

Electrodes

Substrates

Samples

13.56 MHz

Figure 2.2: RIE plasma system
15

2.4.2 Inductive Coupling Plasma Etching (ICP)

rf power

Figure 2.3: ICP plasma system

Inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etching is another method of plasma etching. ICP
plasmas are formed in a dielectric vessel encircled by an inductive coil into which rf power is
applied as shown in Fig. 2.3. The RF can be fed to helical coils wound axially around a
cylindrical cavity. The power is coupled into the discharge by transformer action with the plasma
acting as the secondary conductor. The frequency range is typically between 1 and 100 MHz. At
these frequencies transformer coupling is efficient, although a magnetic transformer core is
absent. The electric field lines induced in ICP form closed loops (in planes normal to the coil
axis). This reduces significantly the electron losses to the walls as compared to capacitive
16

coupling RF system. Due to the reduced loss of electrons, the plasma densities attained in ICP
systems are much higher as compared with RIE system. At low pressures (20 mTorr and below),
the plasma diffuses from the generation region and drifts to the substrate at relatively low ion
energy. So it is expected to produce low damage on the etched surface with high etch rate. The
ion energy can be controlled by a second RF power supply connected to the substrate holder as
shown in Fig. 2.3. At a typical pressure of 1-100 mTorr, the plasma density is around 10
-2

cm .

2.4.3 Reactive Ion Beam Etching (RIBE)

Plasma

Figure 2.4: RIBE plasma system

17

11

12

- 10

In the RIBE system shown in Fig. 2.4, samples are separated from the ion source by one
or more grids which are used to accelerate ions to the surface at highly controlled energies. Ion
energies are ordinarily higher (300 to 2000 eV) than those generated in RIE or ICP. The feed
gases are introduced into the chamber and cracked in the ion source. The positive ions are
extracted into the ion beam and then strike onto the substrate surface creating the reactive ion
etching process. The advantage of this RIBE system is all input parameters can be set
independently for rapid process optimization. Although etch rates may not be as fast as those
reported in ICP or ECR plasmas, RIBE etch profiles are typically anisotropic. These
characteristics can be very useful in MEMS fabrication and multilayer devices (Shul, 1998).
Reactive ion beam etching is also more effective in ultra-precision processing of micromechanical parts made of diamond provided that ion beam induced graphitization can be
appropriately controlled [Miya, 1996]. However, ion beam etching has certain disadvantages,
including radiation damage, a low etching rate and re-deposition [Kiyo, 1997].

2.4.4 Electron Cyclotron Resonance (ECR) Plasma Etching
Electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) microwave plasmas are used for plasma etching as
shown in Fig. 2.5. They are attractive mainly due to high plasma density, which can be generated
by 200-1000 W microwave powers, at low pressures of 1-10 mTorr.

Generally, microwave plasma systems can be operated both with and without external
magnetic fields. These systems usually use frequencies between a few hundred of MHz and
several ten of GHz with the frequency 2.45 GHz being the most common.
18

Plasma

Substrate

Figure 2.5: ECR plasma system

Typical pressures are from 1-20 mTorr for ECR and from 10 mTorr up to 100 Torr for non
ECR. The plasma density is around 10

11

12

-2

– 10 cm . The energy of ions hitting the substrate

can be controlled with a rf bias to the substrate.

2.5 Literature review of diamond etching

19

Due to diamond‘s chemical inertness, diamond etching using plasmas has drawn the attention
of researchers. The methods and results of plasma assisted diamond etching from the literature
are summarized in Table 2.2.
Type Sample

Gas
Mixture

Power

Bias

P

(W)

(-V)

(mT)

(sccm)

RIE

MCD

Ar:O2

Etch
Rates

Aniso

Selec

Roug

tropic

tivity

hness

µm/h

N/A

200-

65-80

300

3.3-

Ref.

(nm)
N/A

N/A

N/A

3.6

[Sand,
1989]

20:20
ECR

MCD

Ar:O2:

400

80-

1-30

12

High

N/A

N/A

250

1992]

SF6

ECR

MCD

Ar:O2:

500

-140

[Pear,

4

6.9

N/A

N/A

N/A

[Chak,
1995]

SF6

6:28:2
RIE

MCD B Ar:O :
2

200

N/A

200

0.94

High

N/A

_doped

Spike
cone

SF6

Table 2.2: Literature Review of Plasma-Assisted Diamond Etching
20

[Dors,
1995]

Table 2.2: Cont‘d
Type Sample

Gas
Mixture

Power

Bias

P

(W)

(-V)

(mT)

(sccm)
RIE

MCD B Ar:O
2

Etch
Rates

Aniso

Selec

tropic

tivity

Ra

(nm)

µm/h
75

-doped

50-

100

250

0.3-

N/A

N/A

N/A

1.5

Pure O2

50-

50-350

1.7-

250

MCD

5.1

100

1.25

N/A

N/A

150

SCD

O2: CF4

1000

N/A

High

N/A

1001000

25%
ECR

SCD B Pure O
2

1000

-doped

30-

2.3

140

2.4-

N/A

N/A

290

7.2

ECR

SCD

O2: CF4

O2= 55

15-

300

1000

100-

1.3-

300

MCD

9.5

2.3

3.67.2

150

21

[Nish,
2001]

[Bern,
2002]

32
RIE

[Siri,
1997]

10-40
RIE

[Vesc,
1996]

25:50
RIE

Ref.

High

N/A

0.4

[Ando,
2002]

High

N/A

~12%

[Bern,
2004]

Table 2.2: Cont‘d
Type Sample

Gas
Mixture

Power

Bias

P

(W)

(-V)

(mT)

(sccm)

ICP

SCD

O2: CF4

MCD

O2: SF6

Rates

Aniso

Selec

Roug

tropic

tivity

hness

µm/h

1000

100

15

20.1

300

-280

High

26

~1

1.8

N/A

26

[Yama
, 2007]

SiO2

100

Ref.

(nm)

(W)

2%
RIE

Etch

14

[Vive,
1995]

SiO2

22.5:2.5
ECR

MCD

Air
100

DC

MCD

Pure O2

130-

50

3750

1.4

N/A

N/A

71

500

100

[Herm
, 1996]

N/A

750

N/A

N/A

N/A

5

[Xian,
2008]

ICP

SCD B Ar:O
2
-doped

600

100-

2.5

180

12

High

N/A

3

[Enlu,
2005]

8:7

22

Sandhu [Sand, 1989] reported using an RIE system to etch microcrystalline diamond and
carbon films. Most of the etching experiments were performed at pressures from 65 to 80 mTorr,
gas flows of 40 to 80 sccm and bias voltages from 200 V to 300 V. The gas mixture used for
diamond etching was argon and oxygen. The results show the etch rate increased rapidly when
increasing the oxygen to argon ratio in the gas mixture up to 560 angstrom per minute (3.36
µm/hr) and it saturated at 35 percent oxygen in the gas mixture.
Pearton et.al [Pear, 1992] reported a high diamond etching rate of 12 µm/hr by an
electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) microwave plasma-assisted 2.45 GHz system (Wavemat
300). The diamond etching was performed in an oxygen and argon discharge at pressures from 1
to 30 mTorr and microwave powers of 200-700 W. The substrate biases of -80 to -250 V were
induced by 13.56 MHz RF power. The etch rates increased with either pressure or microwave
power. The etch rate increased for biases below -100 V and then showed some saturation when
the bias was greater than -100 V. It became saturated when the biases reached -250 V. The
diamond etching rates also increased about 25% with the addition of SF6 from 10-20%. A highly
anisotropic etch profile was obtained at the pressure regime of 1 mTorr.

Charkraborty et al. [Char, 1995] reported a uniform etch rate up to 6.9 μm/hr on 100 mm
diameter free standing diamond wafers by an ECR microwave plasma-assisted 2.45 GHz system.
The diamond etching was performed in a pressure of 4 mTorr, a microwave power of 500 W, a
bias substrate of -140 V and a gas flow rate of Ar : O2 : SF6  6:28:2 sccm.

23

Research on etching boron doped and undoped polycrystalline diamond was also carried
out by Dorsch [Dors, 1995] using a RIE system. This study observed the formation of the
columnar structures on the etched surface. In particular, four different gas mixtures were studied.
In the first case, oxygen was the only gas used for diamond etching and in the second case the
gas mixture was argon and oxygen. The third case used SF6 only and the last case was an oxygen
and SF6 gas mixture. A rf power of 200 W, pressure of 200 mTorr and total gas flow rate of 40
sccm were kept the same for each etching process. The etching results showed that small
cones/columns appeared after 60 seconds of the etch process in the cases of gas mixtures without
SF6. Once the columns were formed, the area between the columns etched faster than the
columns themselves. In the case of etching with SF6 in the gas mixture, the etched surface
remained smooth. This paper also reported an increasing etch rate from 0.14 µm/hr to 0.94 µm/hr
when adding oxygen in the gas mixture (at a flow rate ratio of SF6: O2=1:3). Using X-ray
electron photo spectroscopy (XPS) to analyze the etched samples, the authors concluded that the
cause of the columnar structure on the etched, doped or un-doped, polycrystalline diamond
surface was due to a micro-masking effect of aluminum. Therefore, the fluorine ions efficiently
removed the micro-mask to prevent the formation of columnar structures on the diamond etched
surface.

Vescan [Vesc, 1996] reported using a PE 2400 RIE system to etch boron doped single
crystal diamond patterned with a tungsten (W) mask. The etching gas was argon and oxygen. A
diamond etch rate of 25 nm per minute (1.5 µm/hr) was achieved with -250 W bias power. There

24

was an increase of the surface roughness after etching of single crystal diamond sample. The
authors explained this effect due to the defects or inhomogeneous impurity distribution in the
diamond leading to a strong variation of the local etch rate.

Sirineni [Siri, 1997] reported etching polycrystalline diamond films using a pure oxygen
plasma with a reactive ion etching system operating at 13.56 MHz. The etching process was
performed at pressures ranging from 50 to 250 mTorr and a power of 50-350 W. Oxygen flow
rates were varied from 10 to 40 sccm. For polycrystalline diamond at a pressure of 200 mTorr,
the etch rate was 43 nm/ min (2.56 µm/hr) and it increased up to 85 nm/min (5.1 µm/hr) at a
pressure of 250 mTorr. When the input power was increased from 50 to 200 W, the etch rate also
increased from 28.5 nm/min (1.7 μm/hr) to 71 nm/min (4.26 μm/hr). Generally the SEM images
show that there was minimal change in the surface morphology except for the grain boundaries.
When the power was increased to 250 W, uniform pitting and the appearance of columnar
structures on the surface of individual crystallites was observed. The etched surface morphology
also was investigated. By using the profilometer Dektak measurement, the average surface
roughness (Ra) was reduced from 285 nm (original surface roughness) to 135 nm after etching.
This interesting result was applied for polycrystalline diamond polishing. By doing
lapping/polishing experiments, the etched diamond samples were polished at higher rates than
the un-etched samples. The authors observed a darkening of the film appeared after 3, 5 and 20
min of etching polycrystalline diamond films using oxygen plasma. The darkening of the etched
diamond film was explained due to scattering of light by micro-channels, fine micro-pits and /or

25

columnar features on the surface. The authors concluded that the darkening of the etched
samples was not due to graphitization of the diamond surface by RIE etching.

1μm

Figure 2.6: SEM image the anisotropic etching of single crystal diamond [Nish, 2001].

Nishibayashi [Nish, 2001] reported etching single crystal diamond by a RIE system using
CF4/O2 (ratio of 25%) plasma. It was observed that a column on a diamond substrate has a side
wall, whose top view shape is a circle with a frill, as shown in Fig. 2.6.

This study also investigated the microwave plasma etching of diamond using a CO2/H2
(0.5%) gas mixture at a pressure of 100 mTorr. By comparison, the SEM images show that the
surface roughness after microwave etching is smoother than after RIE etching. This research also
showed a new technique to fabricate sharp array tips as shown in Fig 2.7. A two steps method
was used to form the sharp tips. First, RIE etching was done to form a fine column and then
microwave plasma etching was used to form the sharp tip shape. In Fig. 2.6, it can be seen that
the surface has many etch pits. The size and depth of the etch pits depend on both the CO2
26

concentration and the etching time. The etch pits on the diamond surface can be controlled by
using the gas mixture of CO2/H2 at 5% and 60 minute etching time. The author also concluded
that the optimum conditions for anisotropic etching are the gas mixture of CO2/H2 at 0.5% and
1-4 hours etching time.

10μm

Figure 2.7: SEM image of the single crystal diamond emitter tips array [Nish, 2001].
Bernard et al [Bern, 2002] investigated the etching of p and n-type doped monocrystalline diamond using an ECR microwave plasma-assisted 2.45 GHz system. The etching
rates for both n-type or p-type doped diamond were 3.6 – 7.2 µm/hr. The etching process used
was a pure oxygen gas flow rate of 32 sccm and a pressure of 2.3 mTorr. The 13.56 MHz RF
bias power was used to induce a DC substrate bias of -30 to -140 V. The mask material used was
aluminum with a thickness of 550 nm deposited by DC sputtering. The etching rate of the n-type
doped diamond slightly decreased with the DC bias from 3.6 µm/hr at -30 V to 2.4 µm/hr at -140
V. In contrast, the p-type boron doped etching rate increased from 3.6 µm/hr at -30 V to 7.2
µm/hr at -90 V. The author also reported that the surface roughness was increased with bias more
than -60 V.
27

One of the studies that related the etching rate and surface roughness is from Ando et.al
[Ando, 2002]. A reactive ion etching Anelva L-201D-L system with 300 W RF (13.56 MHz) was
used to etch doped and undoped single crystal diamond at pressures from 15 to 300 mTorr. The
gas mixture was CF4/ O2. Some of the key conclusions from the authors were:


The etch rates increased from 1.3 to 2.5 µm/hr when the RF power increased from 100 W
to 200 W.



The surface roughness of etched diamond decreased when the CF4/ O2 gas mixture ratio
increased up to 25% as shown in Figure 2.8. The addition of small amounts of CF4 into
the gas mixture increased the density of atomic oxygen in the plasma that increased the
diamond etch rate. An average etch rate of 9.5 µm/hr was achieved.



A lower gas pressure led to a smooth surface and more anisotropic etching. An etched
surface roughness of 0.4 nm was achieved.



Doped and undoped diamond micro-cylinders with very high aspect ratios (approx. 8 for
array structures and approx. 25 for exceptional cases) were successfully fabricated using
the RIE etch system.

28

(a)

(c)

(b)

30μm

(d)

30μm

30μm

(e)

30μm

30μm

(a) CF4: O2 = 0%; (b) CF4: O2 = 0.4%; (c) CF4: O2 = 1%; (d) CF4: O2 = 5%; (e) CF4:
O2 = 25%

Figure 2.8: SEM images of diamond etched under different gas ratio of CF4/ O2 [Ando,
2002].

M. Bernard [Bern, 2004] and his research group reported using an ECR oxygen plasma
3

system to etch single crystal diamond piece of size 3 x 3 x 0.5 mm . The diamond etching
condition was a pressure of 2.3 mTorr, oxygen flow rate of 55 sccm and bias voltage from 100 to -150 V. They found that there was many holes in the surface etched with hole
diameters of 0.3-1.6 µm (Fig. 2.9). The hole density varied from 10 7 to 2 x108 cm  2 . They
explained that these holes originated from the defects (dislocations) of the diamond. Their
29

investigation also found whiskers on the surface when etching diamond with an aluminum
mask. The formation of micro-masks inducing whiskers was described as due to mechanical
sputtering of the edge of aluminum mask.

10 µm

Figure 2.9: SEM image of the diamond surface etched without mask [Bern, 2004]

Enlund [Enlu, 2005] reported anisotropic dry etching of boron-doped single crystal CVD
diamond by an ICP etching system. The single crystal diamond sample was covered with an
aluminum layer with a thickness of 250 nm and then patterned by e-beam lithography. All
samples were etched at a pressure 2.5 mTorr, power of 600 W and the dc induced bias was
varied from -100 to -180 V. The gas mixture was 7 sccm of oxygen and 8 sccm of argon. An
etching rate of 12 µm/hr was obtained. The average surface roughness of diamond after etching
was 3 nm. The diamond etch was highly anisotropic as show in Fig. 2.10.

30

5 µm

Figure 2.10: SEM image of anisotropic etching single crystal diamond [Enlu, 2005].

Yamada and his research group also explored diamond etching with the objective to get a
smooth surface and high selectivity [Yama, 2007]. This research group used an ICP system
3

(ULVAC 3001) to etch synthetic type Ib (100) diamond with a size of 3x3x0.5 mm . The gas
mixture was oxygen and CF4. The power was 1000 W and the bias power was 100 W. The
pressure regime used to etch diamond was 15 mTorr. Silicon dioxide (SiO2) was used as the
mask on diamond with a thickness of 400 nm. A two step diamond etching process was used to
reduce the un-intentional whisker / micro mask effects and obtain both low roughness and high
selectivity. The first step of the process was carried out using oxygen plasma only. The second
step was performed for a very short period of time (from 10 to 30 sec) with the addition of a
small CF4 flow rate (2%) into the gas mixture and no bias. The etched diamond surfaces of the
two step etching process observed by SEM are shown in Fig. 2.11. Fig. 2.11a shows a lot of unintentional whiskers on the surface etched by oxygen plasma. Fig. 2.11b shows the etched
surface obtained by using O2 /CF4 gas mixture plasma. It is clear that the etched surface is

31

smoother when a small amount of CF4 is added in gas mixture. A high selectivity etch with a
selectivity of 26 and an etch rate of 20.1 µm/hr was also obtained. With the ratio of the gas
mixture CF4/(O2+ CF4) at 2%, the surface roughness Ra was 1 nm by AFM microscope. The
paper also shown that when the percent of gas CF4 increased in the gas mixture (CF4/O2) the
selectivity of SiO2 decreased.

32

(a)

Mask area

Etched area
2 μm

(b)
)
Mask area
Etched area

2 μm

Figure 2.11: SEM images of diamond surfaces etched in (a) an O2 plasma only and (b) a
(O2 + CF4) plasma [Yama, 2007].

2.6 Literature review of diamond smoothing

33

Microcrystalline diamond films with high growth rates have promise for many
applications. Because the crystal size and surface roughness generally increase when the
diamond films grow thicker, there are limitations on diamond film applications where factors
such as surface reflection, insufficient thermal contact or inadequate electrical contact are
important. There have been many reports about microcrystalline diamond smoothing techniques
in recent years. Mechanical polishing is the most popular technique used to smooth diamond
films. However, the polishing rate for mechanical polishing alone is often too low (10-30 nm/hr)
[Mals, 1999]. Plasma-assisted etching used alone or used in combination with mechanical
polishing can increase the diamond removal rate, which reduces processing time. This section
reviews work in the literature that used plasma assisted etching to smooth microcrystalline
diamond films.

One of the studies of diamond smoothing using plasma etching reported on the
application of an oxygen and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) gas mixture [Vive, 1995]. The goal of
this research was to reduce the surface roughness of microcrystalline diamond films (with
thickness less than 10 μm). A RIE system (007A NEXTRAL NE110 reactor) was used with a
pressure of 100 mTorr, a total gas flow rate of 25 sccm (O2:SF6 = 22.5:2.5 sccm) and -280 V
substrate bias. Under these conditions, the etch rate of diamond was 1.8 µm/hr. A 1.5 μm thick
mask layer of SiO2 was deposited on the microcrystalline diamond film sample (thickness of 2
μm) prior to etching. The SiO2 is a preferred material because its etching rate is close to that of
diamond for the etching feed gas mixture. The main purpose of the SiO2 film was to cover the

34

space between the protruding diamonds from the surface. The etch process removes the diamond
and SiO 2 resulting in removal of the highest diamond crystal protrusions. Specially, by using
the SiO 2 as a mask layer to protect the microcrystalline diamond films surface valley regions
and the diamond peaks are etched away. This planarization method significantly improved the
microcrystalline diamond surface roughness from root mean square (rms) of 40 nm down to of
14 nm (measure from AFM microscope) without decreasing the film thickness.

Hermanns et al [Herm, 1996] reported using an ECR air plasma to smooth CVD
microcrystalline diamond films. The average roughness of microcrystalline diamond films were
reduced from 800-1000 nm down to 71 nm. A thin gold layer about 30 nm thick was deposited
on the diamond film. The sample was then mechanically polished to expose the protruding areas
of diamond for etching. The parameters for etching were an air flow rate of 100 sccm, a pressure
of 3.75 Torr, a DC substrate bias voltage of -50 V and a microwave power varied from 130 W to
500 W. The diamond etching rate was 1.4 µm/hr. The procedure was repeated with the thin film
of gold deposited again followed by mechanical polishing and plasma etch multiple times until
the desired surface roughness was achieved. One of the disadvantages of this process is the
polishing of diamond films cannot be done in one step. And this process cannot smooth the
roughness surface lower than 50 nm.

Z. Xianfeng [Xian, 2008] reported a new technique to smooth diamond films with DC
plasma-enhanced mechanical polishing. Three microcrystalline CVD diamond film samples with
thickness of 200 µm and a surface roughness of 3.09 µm were used for the tests. One of the
35

samples was not etched by oxygen plasma and others were etched with different recipes for
comparison purposes. Then all films were polished by a mechanical polishing device with
diamond powders as the abrasive. The authors observed a significant reduction of the surface
roughness with the samples processed with the pre-plasma etch. The samples with a pre plasma
etch had the surface roughness Ra reduced down to 30 nm compared with 1532 nm without using
the pre plasma etch treatment. The plasma etching can lead to the emergence of numerous etch
whiskers on the diamond grain surface which can be removed quickly with the mechanical
abrasive device. By repeating the oxygen plasma etching treatment, the surface roughness of
diamond films can be polished from 3000 nm to 5 nm within 5 hrs.

2.7 Summary
Plasma-assisted diamond etching has been reviewed. Three different types of diamond,
nanocrystalline, microcrystalline and single crystal materials have been etched by plasmaassisted etching systems. The ECR plasma and ICP plasma systems gave the higher etch rates as
compared to RIE plasma systems. The etch rates range from 1.3 to 20 µm/ hr. Whiskers can form
on the diamond surface because of micro-masking when etched with an oxygen plasma alone.
Plasma-assisted etching has also applied to smooth microcrystalline diamond surfaces.

36

CHAPTER 3
EXPERIMENTAL EQUIPMENT AND METHODS

3.1 Introduction
In this chapter, the experimental equipment and methods to be used in the study will be
described. The first section in this chapter will focus on the structure and performance of the
Lambda Technologies Etcher system. Section 3.3 will introduce other equipment and methods
used to support the diamond etching research.

3.2 Microwave Plasma Assisted Etching System
This section overviews of the major components of the experimental etching system and
then goes over the detail of each component. The Lambda Technologies, Inc microwave plasma
assisted etching system (Fig. 3.1) consists of: (1) The Microwave Power System; (2) The
Microwave Plasma Reactor; (3) The Vacuum System; (4) The Bias System; (5) The Gas
Delivery System; (6) The Cooling System; (7) The Control and Computer System. Each of these
components is described in detail in the sections below.

37

Figure 3.1: Block Diagram of the Microwave Power System. For interpretation of the references
to color in this and all other figures, the reader is referred to the electronic version of this
dissertation.
(1) Microwave Power System

(5) The Gas Delivery System

(2) Microwave Plasma Reactor

(6) The Cooling System

(3) The Vaccuum System

(7) The Computer

(4) The Bias System

(8) Substrate Holder

3.2.1 The Microwave Power System
An ASTeX F120163 microwave power generator provides a power up to 1800 W at a
frequency of 2.45 GHz as shown in Figure 3.2. The output of the microwave power supply

38

magnetron is connected to the three port circulator GA1112 (2). This circulator is used with
dummy loads GA1201 (4) in an isolator configuration for magnetron protection. The dummy
load uses water as the absorptive medium in a polyethylene insert to provide good performance
for up to 3000 W continuous input power. The other port of the circulator is connected to an
impedance matching head ASTeX 0453 with precision power detector (3) to maximize the
power transfer and minimize the reflection from the plasma load. The incident and reflective
powers were monitored through a power detector unit (3) and output to a LabView program. The
power detector (3) is connected to probe (6) through a wave guide (5).

Figure 3.2: Block Diagram of Microwave Power System
(1) 2.45 GHz power supply; (2) circulator; (3) power detector; (4) dummy load; (5) wave
guide; (6) Excitation Probe

39

3.2.2 The Microwave Plasma Reactor
The microwave plasma reactor is the latest version of a microwave reactor with a quartz
enclosed plasma disk discharge that was introduced in the early 1980‘s by Root and Asmussen
[Root, 1985]. The microwave plasma reactor used for the etching experiment, was constructed
by Lambda Technologies, Inc, based on the latest version of microwave plasma reactor as shown
in Figure 3.3.

The microwave plasma reactor consists of a 30.4 cm diameter brass cavity applicator (1),
sliding short (2) allowing adjustment of the length of the cavity, and excitation probe (3). The
sliding short and probe can adjustable in the up and down direction. Finger stock (4) is used to
provide electrical contact between the sliding short and cavity walls. The plasma discharge is
generated in the volume of the 24 cm inner diameter, 15 cm tall, quartz bell jar (6). The bell jar is
cooled by compressed air cooling holes (7) equally spaced around the bottom of the bell jar. The
etch processing gases enter the chamber through pin holes (9) equally spaced around the stainless
steel base plate (11) at the bottom of the bell jar. The ECR magnet ring (12 poles) configuration,
as shown in Figure 3.4, is placed in the apparatus near the center plane of the discharge. The
magnet ring is cooled by the water cooling channel (5).

40

Lp

Figure 3.3: Diagram of Microwave Plasma Reactor
1) Brass Cavity

6) Quartz Dome

2) Brass Sliding Short

7) Air Cooling hole

3) Excitation Probe

8) Magnets Location

4) Finger Stock

9) Gas Channel

5) Water cooling

10) Rubber O-Ring

11) Stainless Steel Base Plate

41

Figure 3.4: Magnets ring configuration


North poles: Red



South poles: Blue

42

3.2.3 The Vacuum System

Figure 3.5: The Vacuum System
1) Vacuum Chamber

7) Turbo Pump

2) 1000 Torr Pressure Gauge

8) High Vacuum Throttle Valve

3) Medium Vacuum Throttle Valve

9) 1-10 Torr Baratron Gauge

4) Isolation Valve (pneumatic)

10) 0.1-1 Torr Baratron Gauge

5) Roughing Pump

11) Cold Cathode Gauge PTR90
-6

6) Foreline Gauge (3.75 10 - 10 Torr)

43

The vacuum system consists of paths for medium pressures (1- 800 Torr) and high vacuum
pressures (1mTorr-1 Torr) as shown in Figure 3.5. The roughing pump is a rotary vane vacuum
pump (5), a model TRIVAC D 40 BCS-PFPE two stage pump which can reach a base pressure
down to 8 x 10

-4

mbar or 0.6 mTorr. Path one consists of a roughing pump (5), isolation valve

(4), medium throttle valve (3) and a 1000 Torr pressure gauge (2). This path of pumping is
mostly used for higher pressure regime etching processes (for non-ECR plasma processes). Path
two consists of the roughing pump (5), an isolation valve (4), a foreline gauge (6), a turbo pump
(7) and a high vacuum throttle valve, i.e the Intellisys throttling softshut gate valve (8). This path
controls high vacuum pressures of 1 mTorr up to 1 Torr (for ECR plasma process). Three
vacuum gauges (9), (10) and (11) of different pressure ranges are connected to the pressure
controller to monitor the vacuum chamber pressure.

44

3.2.4 The Gas Delivery and Cooling System

Figure 3.6: The Gas Delivery and Cooling System.
1) Gas Botle

6) NesLab Chiller

2) Mass Flow Controller

7) Base Pate

3) Affinity Chiller

8) Dummy Load

4) Substrate Holder Stage

9) Microwave generator

5) Bias Matching Network

10) Multi-gas controller 647 C

45

The gas delivery system consists of the source gas cylinders (1) (Oxygen, Nitrogen, Sulfur
Hexafluoride and Argon), four mass flow controllers (2) and the multi-gas flow controller unit
647 C (10). The maximum flow for source gases (from MKS mass flow controller) are 20 sccm
for oxygen (O2) gas (channel 01); 200 sccm for argon (Ar) and nitrogen (N) (channel 3 and 4)
and 10 sccm for sulfur hexafluoride (SF6). The MKS 647 C controller (10) controls both
pressure and flow of gases into the chamber both manually or through the computer. The cooling
system consists of two chillers (3 and 6). The Infinity chiller (3) cools the substrate holder (4)
and the matching network unit (5). The NesLab Chiller (6) cools the base plate (7), the dummy
load (8) and the magnetron (9).

3.2.5 The Performance of Plasma Etcher
This section investigates the performance of the 12 inch cavity applicator which couples
microwave power into the plasma. The short and probe adjustments were studied to optimize the
etcher operation in the TM013 and TM012 modes. Figure 3.7 shows the microwave resonant
frequency versus the cavity length Ls for an ideal cavity (diameter of 12 inches). With a
microwave frequency of 2.45 GHz, the TM012 and TM013 resonant modes occur at cavity
lengths of 12.8 cm and 19.2 cm, respectively.

Figures 3.8 to 3.10 show the experimental microwave absorbed power versus cavity
length at pressures of 1 mTorr, 10 mTorr and 40 mTorr, respectively. The absorbed microwave

46

power is determined as the incident microwave power minus the reflected microwave power. For
the pressure of 1 mTorr, the highest absorbed power occurs from 19 cm to 21 cm for the
microwave incident power from 500 - 900 W. For the pressure of 10 mTorr, the highest absorbed
power occurs from 19.5 cm to 20.1 cm for the microwave incident power from 500 - 900 W.
And at the higher pressure of 40 mTorr, the highest absorbs power occurs around 20.2 cm for the
microwave incident power from 500 - 900 W.

TM013

TM012

Figure 3.7: The Cavity Modes

47

Figure 3.8: The absorbed microwave power versus cavity length Ls (pressure of 1 mTorr)

48

Figure 3.9: The absorbed microwave power versus cavity length Ls (pressure of 10 mTorr)

49

Figure 3.10: The absorbed microwave power versus cavity length Ls (pressure of 40 mTorr)

3.3 Other Related Instruments
This section describes other instruments used for diamond etching research.

i) Clean room
50

Except for the Etcher, most of the instruments are housed in a class 1000 clean room located
in Research Complex Engineering Building. Several essential instruments used for this research
include a wet station, a Suss MJB3 mask aligner, a photoresist spinner, an Axxis Physical Vapor
Deposition (PVD) system, and a Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapour Deposition (PECVD)
Plasmalab 80 Plus system. Details of selected equipment in the clean room include:

ii) The PECVD system
The PECVD Plasmalab 80 Plus, made by Oxford Instruments Plasma Technology, can be
used for deposition of silicon oxide, silicon nitride and amorphous silicon. This instrument is a
13.56 MHz driven parallel plate reactor with manual sample loading and heated substrate. This
machine is controlled by a PC that runs the PlasmaLab 800 software. The 10 inch substrate
holder is capable of heating up to 700 C degree. The deposition rates for silicon oxide and silicon
nitride are approximately 3 µm/hr and 1.2 µm/hr, respectively. This machine is used to deposit
the silicon oxide or silicon nitride films used as masks on diamond samples.

iii) The PVD system
The PVD deposition (Axxis_Lesker) provides three mechanisms for thin film deposition:
thermal evaporation, electron beam evaporation, and magnetron sputtering (RF or DC). This
machine is capable of depositing a variety of conductive or insulating multilayer thin films. The
substrate holder can hold up to 6 inch diameter substrates with rotation and heating. The vacuum
chamber pressure can reach to 5 x 10

-7

Torr. The typical film uniformity is better than +/- 5%.

This machine is used to deposit thin films (Al, Gold, and Ti) as masks on diamond samples.
51

iv) Mask Aligner
The mask aligner, model Karl Suss MJB3, is used for patterning photoresist through a
photolithography mask. The exposure source is a 350 W Hg lamp powered by a Suss model 505
supply. The system incorporates UV-400 optics to transfer the energy to the substrate. The UV
light source can operate either in constant power or illumination mode. The process diamond
sample is mounted in the chuck and held tightly by the vacuum. This machine is used to transfer
the pattern using a mask for selectivity, diamond etching and anisotropic studies.

v) Photoresist Spinner
The spinner, model WS-400 manufactured by Laurell Technology Inc, is used for coating
photoresist on the top of diamond substrates/films. The spinner chamber is made of
polypropylene (NPP), which is imperviously to chemical attack. The spinner can rotate up to
8000 rpm. For this research, the spinning speed was at 3000 rpm for 30 sec.

vi) Dektak Profilometer
The Dektak profilometer (model D6M) is used for measuring the thickness and surface
roughness of diamond surface samples. The profilometer traces the surface of the sample with a
floating diamond needle that records the z axis fluctuations (using the low-inertia sensor head).
This equipment is used to determine the etch rate, surface roughness and selectivity.

vii)

The Optical Microscope

52

An optical microscope (model Nikon ME600) is used to observe and take micrographs of the
diamond etched surface in order to characterize the surface morphology. Magnifications of 100
X and 500 X are mostly used for this research project to observe the surface morphology.

viii)

SEM Microscope

Scanning Electron Microscopes (SEM) (model JOEL 6400V and 7500F), located in the
Center of Advanced Microscopy, are used to characterize the surface morphology of etched
diamond. SEMs operate by scanning a focused electron beam over a surface and sensing the
secondary electrons emitted from the surface. SEMs have high magnification in the range of 5040000 X (JOEL 6400V) or even up to 500000 X (JOEL 7500F). The microscopes are helpful to
measure the step height of etched profiles.

53

CHAPTER 4
PLASMA ETCHING THEORY

4.1 Introduction
Plasma etching is the most common method used to etch diamond because diamond is
chemical inert for all liquid etching acids and solutions. Plasma etching relates to many
complicated processes that need to be broadly understood. There are reviews and discussions
about plasma etching and processing in the research literature [Chap, 1980], [Lieb, 1994] and
[Shul, 2000]. This chapter overviews plasma etching, especially in regards to plasma-assisted
etching of diamond.

4.2 Plasma Etching Fundamentals
Plasma is an ionized gas with free positive and negative charges in equal number, neutral
atoms, radicals or molecules, in addition to photons emitted from excited species. Radicals are
molecule fragments with unsaturated bonds. Positive charge carriers are mostly ionized atoms,
radicals, or molecules created by impact with electrons. And negative charges are free electrons
and some negatively charged ions. Neutral atoms, radicals and molecules can be in the ground or
excited state. When excited species lose energy via spontaneous transitions to lower energy
states, photons are emitted. The most important form of energetic particle bombardment on
surfaces in plasma assisted etching system is positive ions. Negative ions and electrons are much
less important than positive ions because they have very little energy when they reach surfaces.
54

Plasmas can be created by applying a sufficiently large electric field to a gas. The
electrons which gain kinetic energy from the applied electric field then collide with and transfer
energy to gas atoms. It results in ionization and excitation of gas molecules/atoms. The charged
particles can be neutralized by recombination within plasma or at the chamber wall. The plasma
is maintained when the rate of ionization of gas atoms or molecules is equal with the rate of
electron and ion recombination [Maha, 99].

4.2.1 Plasma parameters
The simplest view of a plasma-assisted etching discharge is electrical energy is coupled
to the electron gas, which excites the electron gas. The electrons through collisions drive
ionization reactions that produce a plasma discharge that has a similar number of positive and
negative particles. At the boundaries of the discharge, where the plasma discharge interacts with
the walls, a plasma sheath is formed. Since the electrons are more energetic and mobile in the
discharge than the positive ions, a potential is established between the quasi-neutral plasma and
the wall that helps repel electrons from the wall and attracts positive ions to the wall. The
potential of the quasi-neutral discharge region away from the wall is called the plasma
potential V p . An important quantity to help understand the size of the plasma sheath is the
quantity called the Debye length  D . The Debye length is a measure of the distance that a single
charge in the plasma has an influence on the local potential variation.

55

Assuming that the electrons are a collection of independent particles obeying MaxwellBoltzmann statistic, the electron density ne (r) will be distributed in the potential φ as follow:

 e(r ) 
ne (r )
 exp

ne0
 k BTe 

[4.1]

where: kB is the Boltzmann‘s constant =1.38 10

-23

-1

JK ; Te is the electron temperature; ne0 is the

average electron density; φ(r) is the potential around a charge q can be computed as follow

 q 
(r )  
 4 r  exp(r / D )

0 


[4.2]

where ε0 is the permittivity of free space ε0 = 8.854 10

-12

-1

F.m and λD is the Debye length (the

scale length over which a plasma can be considered neutral).

At a pressure of 4 mTorr, the Debye length in typical high density plasma that may be
used for plasma assisted etching is approximately [Suga, 1998]:
1/ 2
1/ 2
 k T 
 8.854 x1012 x1.38 x10  23 x5 
 0 B e

D 

 2.1x10 5 m




2
17
19
 8.5 x10 x1.6 x10

 ne e 

[4.3]

Microwave is one of the plasma sources which can be used to generate high density
plasmas. The microwaves (2.45 GHz) created by a magnetron, are introduced into the discharge
chamber via a transmission line or waveguide. The electromagnetic waves are propagated into
the working gas region (confined by the quartz discharge chamber) where the plasma is excited.

56

In low pressure microwave etching reactors the coupling of microwave energy into the electron
gas normally occurs by joule or collision heating and also by electron cyclotron resonance
heating in a magnetized system.

The average energy gain of an electron from the microwave energy in unit time due to
Joule and ECR heating is given by the following equation [Asmu, 1989]:

W

e 2 E 2
4me



1
1



 2    c 2  2    c 2 



[4.4]

where  is the microwave operating frequency; E is the microwave electric field;  is the
collision frequency between electrons and gas molecules and c is the electron cyclotron
resonance frequency in a static magnetic field as given by:

c 

eB
me

[4.5]

where me is the mass of the electron; and e is the charge of the electron, and B is the strength of
the static magnetic field.

Under low pressure conditions (<< 100 mTorr) and with the presence of the magnetic
field, the mean free path of electron-neutral and electron-ion collision becomes very long, then

 ~0. If  = c then W → ∞. This is called electron cyclotron resonance (ECR). At higher
57

pressure, the energy absorption becomes collisional and the magnetic field has a little or none
influence on the heating of the electron gas. ECR plasma (2.45 GHz) is not useful when it
operates in a high pressure regime (p > a few 10 mTorr).

In the case of non-magnetized, then c = 0. Equation [4] becomes:

W


e 2 E 2 
1
 2

2me    2 

[4.6]

In this case the heating is called Joule or collision heating. The energy absorption becomes a
maximum when  = . The electrons are accelerated by the alternating electric field of the
microwave. The energy absorption W depends on the collision frequency. From equation (6), it
is clearly see that at very low pressure, the collisional frequency is much lower than the
operating frequency, and then the energy absorption becomes less. So the discharge is harder to
maintain.

4.2.2 Theory of microwave propagation
In theory, microwaves cannot propagate in plasmas with densities higher than a
maximum plasma density N cr which is determined by the following equation (B = 0) [Popo,
1991]:

N cr 

 2m

[4.7]

4e 2

58

where m is electron mass and e is electron charge and ω is the microwave angular frequency.
With the present of magnetic field, the wave propagation is reflected by a cut off plasma
density N



is determined as follow:

For B > Bce = 875 G.

N



cutoff

cutoff

= N cr (1+

B
)
Bce

For B < Bce = 875 G.

N

B
= N cr (1)
cutoff
Bce

The plasma skin depth, the depth which electromagnetic waves can penetrate into plasma,
is calculated as follow [Huba, 2007]:

1
1

 m

e  2  5.31x105 n 2 (cm)


e
 2

e 0 ne 


[4.8]

where 0 is permeability (free space); ne is the electron density; me is the mass of electron and
e is the electron charge.
For 4 mTorr pressure regime and an assumed the electron density (Ar=10 sccm) of ~8.5 x

1011 cm 3 , using the Equ. 4.8, the plasma skin depth is approximately 4.89 cm. Given the size
of the discharge region in the microwave etching used in this study, it can be concluded the
microwave energy a penetrate substantially into the discharge with size of ~10-25 cm.

59

4.2.3 Plasma-wall interaction
Plasma consists of electrons and ions. The electrons, with smaller mass, move more
rapidly than ions because of higher thermal velocity [Mass, 1979]. So the electrons are the first
species to reach any surface that is exposed to the plasma. This results in the electric potential at
the surface (wall) becoming lower than the plasma potential. Electrons are repelled from the
surface and the positively charged ions are attracted to the surface. The corresponding decrease
of the electron density is presumed to form a positive space charge region shielding the plasma
from the negative wall and this is called the sheath. Thus the sheath is a finite region over which
the potential drops from the plasma potential V p to the potential at the surface. Figure 4.1 and
4.2 show a schematic of the sheath potential in front of a wall [Schn, 2001] [Stev, 2000].


Ion


Wall
e

e
Sheath region

d

Figure 4.1: Schematic of the plasma sheath region in front of the wall [Schn, 2001].

Generally, there are three regions in the plasma regime: the sheath, pre-sheath and bulk
plasma as shown in Fig.4.2.
60

Sheath

Pre-sheath

ni

Bulk
ni0

ni = ne

Wall

Vp
V(x)

ne
x
0

L
K

d

Figure 4.2: Plasma density and potential across a sheath [Stev, 2000]. The relevant plasma
parameters are shown: ion density in the sheath region ni , electron density ne , ion density in the
bulk plasma n i 0 , plasma potential V (x) , sheath edge position d and the pre-sheath edge position
L.

A sheath region ( x  d ) is the region where the electron density drops well below the ion
density. A pre-sheath region (d< x  L ) is a quasi-neutral transition region between the sheath
and the bulk plasma (x>L).

The plasma sheath is the interface between the bulk plasma and the chamber wall or the
substrate material. Sheaths are particularly important because their properties determine how the
ions from the plasma interact or sputter onto the substrate surface [Stev, 2000]. The thickness of
the plasma sheath is given as follow [Suga, 1998]:

61

d

 D  e(V p  V f )


0.98 


k B Te


 1



3/ 4

[4.9]

where kB is the Boltzmann constant, ε0 is the permittivity of the vacuum, Vp is the plasma
potential and λD is the Debye length (see Equ. 4.3).

At a pressure of 4 mTorr, the sheath thickness is approximately:

 D  eV p



d
 1
0.98  k BTe 



3/ 4

3/ 4

2.1x10 5 
28 x1.6 x10 19


 1
 6.7 x10 5 (m)


 23 x5 x11605
0.98
 1.38 x10


Hence, the sheath thickness is usually a few Debye lengths in size.

4.2.4 Ion kinetic energy
When a flux of ions which are accelerated in the sheath is incident on a surface, they
initially transfer momentum to target atoms. The incident ion can both (1) lose momentum in
subsequent collisions, and finally come to rest in thermal equilibrium with the target
(implantation) or (2) get reflected from the target (backscattering).

The maximum ions energy that strikes on an electrically isolated substrate depends on the
difference between the plasma potential V P and the floating potential V f . The voltage drop
across the sheath is given as follow [Chap, 1980]:

62

VS =Vp-Vf =

k BTe  mi 

ln 
 2.3me 
2e



[4.10]

where e is the charge of electron; k B is the Boltzman‘s constant; mi and me is mass of the ions
and electron respectively; Te is the electron temperature.

b

a

Figure 4.3: Diagram of etcher plasma with RF biasing
The collision of ions in the sheath region can also decrease the ion energy incident on the
surface. The energy of positive ions striking the substrate can be increased by applying a
63

negative bias onto the substrate. Most plasma etching processes require a bias potential with a
negative bias applied to the substrate to ensure directional ion bombardment or anisotropic
etching. When a RF power is applied to the substrate as shown in Fig. 4.3, the voltage dropped
across the plasma sheath will be increased without increasing the ion current drawn to the
substrate [Caug, 1991]. So the ion energy is controlled independently from the current density.
The ion is accelerated by the electric field in the sheath, strikes on the surface and promotes the
etching process. The voltage sheath drop across the sheath is expressed as follow [Mant, 1983]:

k BTe  2mi
ln 
Vdc = me
2e


 k T   e2Vrf
 - B e ln  I
 0  k BTe

e
 







[4.11]

where Vdc is the negative dc substrate voltage; I0 is the modified Bessel function; Vrf is the
external alternating voltage peak bias source.

When Vrf →0 (no bias), then Vdc→Vf =

  e2Vrf
k T
When Vrf≥10( B e ), ln  I 0 
  k BTe
e
 

k BTe  2mi
ln 
 me
2e








eV
 e2Vrf

  2 rf  ln  2 


k B Te

  k B Te

 

[4.12]

1/ 2 









[4.13]

And;


k BTe   e2Vrf
Vdc  -Vf–2Vrf+
ln  2 
e
  k BTe
 

1/ 2 









64

[4.14]

Thus for the large peak applied bias voltage (Vrf ≥ 10

k B Te
), the negative DC substrate
e

bias equals the floating potential plus the peak to peak applied voltage minus a positive


k T   e2Vrf
correction term (= B e ln  2 
e
  k BTe


1/ 2 



 ). This correction term is relatively small compared




with the peak voltage Vrf . Therefore, the voltage Vdc is slightly less than the peak voltage Vrf
and proportional to it. Equation [14] showed good agreement with experiment data for
eVrf/(kBTe) from 0 to 150 as shown in Figure 4.4 .

------ Calculation

Vdc (V)

Exp. data

Vrf (peak)/(kBTe/e)

65

Figure 4.4: Vdc versus Vrf peak in argon plasma, pressure = 1mTorr, Te=1.8 eV and Vf =-7.9 V
[Mant, 1983].

At low pressures, it can be assured the ions have no collisions in crossing the sheath. Ions
that fall through a plasma sheath potential are accelerated normal to the substrate by Vdc sheath


k BTe   e2Vrf
potential with an energy of εi ≈ -e(Vf + Vrf ln  2 
e
  k BTe
 

1/ 2 



 ). So a larger negative





bias will give more energy to the ions striking on the surface to be etched. This result in vertical
etches rates being large as compare to lateral etch rates. That means the anisotropic degree and
the etch rate are affected by the negative bias applied to the substrate. By contrast, lower
negative bias voltages decrease the anisotropy and etching rates.

4.2.5 Plasma Density
Plasma density is an important parameter to determine the reaction rates in the plasma.
The ions, electrons and neutrals vary by mass, temperature and power absorbed. The electron
density is approximately equal to the ion density locally, but they are both typically less than the
density of neutrals. In the case of a low pressure, non-magnetized chamber, the random motion
of the ions and electrons to the substrate takes place equally by am bipolar diffusion. The plasma
density becomes almost uniform over the entire discharge except adjacent to the wall. The

66

plasma density can be determined experimentally using a Single Langmuir Probe (SLP) as
follow:

ni 

Is
0.6eA p

Mi
kbTe

[4.15]

where Is is the ion saturation current; Ap is the effective area of the probe, Mi is the mass of
molecules; kB is the Boltzmann‘s constant; e is the electron charge and Te is the electron
temperature.
The ion density at the sheath border (x= d as show in Fig. 4.2) is determined as follow:

V d 
ni d   ne d   ni0 exp P   0.6ni0
 Te 

[4.16]

where ni is ion density in the sheath region; ne is electron density and n i 0 ion density in the
bulk plasma.
From equation 4.4, the plasma density is directly related to the microwave power absorbed. The
plasma density increases with the microwave absorbed increases.

4.2.6 Diffusion process
The net flow of charge species in the discharge, especially those flowing down to the
substrate, plays a significant role in plasma processing and has drawn the attention of many
researchers [Jaco, 1967]; [Sade, 1991]. The random motion of the charged particles results from
the spatial variation of charged particle concentration in the plasma environment is called
67

diffusion of species. This phenomenon is an important factor affecting the etching parameters
such as etch rate or etch anisotropy.

In steady state and the absence of electromagnetic forces, the electron (or ion) diffusion
in weakly ionization plasma is calculated as follows [Bitt, 2004]:

'
e  Dene

[4.17]

'
where Γe is flux of electrons (ions); ne is the gradient of electron (ions) density and the
electron (ion) free diffusion coefficient De is given by:

De 

k BTe

[4.18]

me ce

where kB is the Boltzmann‘s constant, Te is the electron temperature; me is the mass of electron
(ion); and νce is the collision frequency between electrons and neutrons. The electron-neutron
collision frequency is given as

 ce  nn  cex ce

[4.19]

where nn is the neutral density;  cexce presents the average of the product of collision cross
section and electron velocity distribution over the velocity space.

68

Diffusion with the effect of electric field between the electrons and ions is known as
ambipolar diffusion. The electric field is to accelerate the diffusion of the ions and to retard the
diffusion of the electrons. Without this electric field the electrons stream out much faster than the
ions. So the diffusion rates of both ions and electrons are approximately equalized.
The ambipolar diffusion rate is given as

'
ne
,
 Da  2 ne
t

where

[4.20]

'
ne
'
is the diffusion rate of electrons (ions); ne is the gradient of electron (ions) density
t

and the electron (ion) free diffusion coefficient Da is given by:

Da 

k B (Te  Ti )

[4.21]

me ce  Cmi ci

In a weakly ionized discharge, the ambipolar diffusion can be simplified as follow:

 T 
Da  Di 1  e 
 T 
i


[4.22]

Since Te  Ti in weakly ionized plasma, then the ions and electrons both diffuse at a
rate that is larger with the ion free diffusion rate, but less than De .

69

In the low pressure, sub-mTorr to a mTorr limit where ambipolar diffusion losses to the
walls dominate over volume recombination (the ions more essentially collisionless), the diffusion
of species is expressed as [Hopw, 1988]:

Da  2 n  0

[4.23]

where Da is ambipolar diffusion coefficient and n is the ion density.
The ambipolar diffusion coefficient is much larger than the ionization rate and the
solution for Equ. 4.28 as follow:
 zx 
exp   n 

 2n b 
 x b   rx 
 a 
n(r , z )   0   J1 n  J 0  n 
 a n 1  a   a   xn J 2 xn 
1





[4.24]

where a is the chamber radius, b is the discharge radius (Fig. 4.3), Jn is the order n
function of the first kind and xn is the n

th

th

Bessel

zero of J0.

4.3 Plasma Etching Mechanism
Plasma-assisted etching refers to etching of solids in reactive gas glow discharges in
which volatile products are formed, regardless of the apparatus used or the region of the
parameter space involved. Plasma-assisted etching plays an important role for diamond postprocessing especially for micro or nanometer structure patterning. There are some unique
properties of plasmas-assisted etching that make it useful for material processing and etching.
Electrons in low pressure plasmas are not in thermal equilibrium with the ions and neutrons so
70

they can reach higher temperatures. The high electron temperatures in plasmas produce enhanced
chemical reaction rates. Another feature of plasma-assisted etching is that energetic ions can be
accelerated directionally to the substrate surface with an independent bias source enabling
anisotropic etching.

The basic steps of plasma etching take place as following: (1) the radical and ions species
are generated by the plasma discharge. (2) The radical species diffuse around the chamber and
also toward the substrate. (3) The energetic ions are accelerated by the electric field in the sheath
and the strike onto the substrate. (4) Surface reactions. (5) Desorption of the etch products. There
are four main categories for the mechanism of plasma etching:

71

Figure 4.5: The mechanisms of plasma etching [Mano, 1989]

72

physical etching (or sputtering), pure chemical etching, ion enhanced energetic etching and ionenhanced inhibitor etching as shown in Fig. 4.8.

The details of these process have been

explained in the research literature [Chap, 1980], [Mano, 89], and [Suga, 1998]. Figure 4.5
summaries these processes as following:

4.3.1 Sputtering:
Sputtering is a process to remove the material by colliding ions into the substrate surface
resulting in removal of atoms or group of atoms. This process is dominated by the acceleration of
energetic ions formed in the plasma to the substrate surface at relatively high kinetic energy.
Some of this energy is transferred to the substrate resulting in material being ejected from the
surface as shown in Fig. 4.5a. A qualitative picture of the sputtering process on the substrate
surface looks as follows. An impinging ion undergoes a series of collisions on the surface and
atoms that rebound with sufficient energy undergo secondary collisions, thereby creating another
generation of rebounded atoms. Both the ion itself and energetic rebound atoms have the
possibility of getting scattered back through the surface by a series of collisions from a depth that
can be a certain fraction of the total ion range. These back-scattered ions and energetic rebound
atoms account for most of the sputtered energy but only a minor portion of the number of the
ions and rebound atoms are ejected from the surface [Ande, 1968]. The etch rate, Rsputter , is
directly proportional to the sputtering yield γ (defined as the number of atoms or molecules
ejected per incident ion) given by [Maha, 1999]:

Rsputter = 6.22

jW
(nm/min)


[4.25]

73

2

where γ is the sputtering yield; j is the ion flux (mA/cm ); W is the molecular weight of the
3

etched material (g/mol), and ρ is the density of the material to be etched (g/cm ).

The sputter yield is dependent on the energy of the injected ion, the masses of the
colliding atoms and the bonding energy of the materials. In general, the ions with energy above
20-30 eV can sputter atoms from a surface. For ion bombardment energy up to 1 kV, the sputter
yield is calculated as follow [Sigm, 1969]:

 

4mi mt
3
E
4 2 mi  mt 2 Eb

[4.26]

where mi is the ion mass; mt are the masses of the colliding atoms; α is the monotonic
increasing function that depends on the atom mass ratio; Eb is the surface binding energy of the
material to be etched.

74

Sputter Yield

 Exp. Data
o Ref. [Whet, 1984]

Ion Energy (eV)
Figure 4.6: Sputtering Yield versus Ion Energy
The value of surface binding energy for diamond substrate is Eb = 6.67 eV [Kudr,
2004]; and E is the energy of the incident ion in eV. Figure 4.6 shows the sputtering yield versus
argon energy for diamond and silicon substrate [Guzm, 2006].

The use of ion energies above 1 kV is not common in etching discharges because those
ions will be implanted in the solid surface. Argon or another noble gas is usually used to create
the discharge for sputtering. The sputtering yield increases rapidly with energy up to a few
hundred electron volts. For the physical sputtering process, argon ion energies are typically at
500-1000 eV. The etch rate by the sputtering process is often low because the yield is typically
of the order one atom per incident ion, and the ion flux incident on surfaces in discharges is often
75

small. The sputtering from bombardment by ions that arrive directionally perpendicular with the
surface result in the etch profiles being vertical or anisotropic.

Some drawbacks of the sputtering process are it causes a rough surface morphology,
trenching, mask erosion and poor selectivity. Trenching is the enhanced erosion around the foot
of an etched wall. Trenching results from the increased flux of ions at the trenches due to
reflection off the side walls as shown in Fig. 4.7. The mask itself can also be removed by the
sputtering process, resulting in the final dimension of the opening mask being larger than the
initial dimension. This leads to a tapered profile.

Figure 4.7: Typical profile of trenching and mask erosion after sputtering by an inert ion.

Selectivity in sputtering typically decreases with increasing ion energy [Flam, 1989]. The
etch product formed from the sputter process is usually a non- volatile compound that may
reflected back to the substrate surface. This can roughen the surface and reduce the removal rate.

76

Sputtering yield is also depended on the oblique incident (angle θ) of the ions
[Sigm,1969].

    cos  f (1< f <2)

[4.27]

where γ is the sputter yield for perpendicular incident and   is the sputter yield of oblique
incident ion.

The most important factor causing an oblique incident angle is the collision of the ions
with the gas molecules in the ion sheath. The thickness of the ion sheath depends on the electron
density, the electron temperature and the RF bias as shown in equation 4.9. The collision rate
between the ions and the molecules also depends on the pressure. So in order to have
perpendicular incident ions for anisotropic profile, the pressure should be low or the thickness of
the ion sheath should be small.

4.3.2 Chemical Etching:
The pure chemical etching process is shown in Fig. 4.5b. The plasma produces the
reactive species by dissociating molecules from the feed gas mixture. The chemical etching
process relies on the formation of reactive species in the plasma that adsorb to the surface, react
with the surface material to be etched, form volatile etch products and then desorbed from the
surface. In the case of diamond etching with oxygen plasma, the chemical etching process
occurs when diamond is converted to gaseous carbon monoxide and/or carbon dioxide by

77

oxidation. The chemical removed rate is dependent on the ability of the process to form and
evaporate the etch products (volatility).

Theoretically, the reaction rate is calculated based on the Arrhenius‘s equation:


E 
K (T )  A(T ). exp 
 k T

 B 

[4.28]

where K(T) is the reaction rate coefficients; A(T) is the collision frequency of reactants, T is the
substrate temperature, E is the activation energy and kB is the gas Boltzmann constant.

Since the species in a discharge are almost are neutrals, the flux of the neutral species to
the substrate is significantly larger than the ion flux. Because the higher neutral flux, the
potential exists for the chemical etching rate to exceed the sputtering rate. The purely chemical
etch process is isotropic because the gas-phase etchants arrive at the substrate with a near
uniform angular distribution. Therefore, one normally expects a relatively isotropic etch rate
[Lieb, 1994]. Chemical etchings processes can produce different etch rates for mask and
substrate materials because of chemical reactions difference. So for chemical etching, the etch
selectivity is high by choosing mask materials that are less or non-reactive with the plasma
radicals.

4.3.3 Ion Enhanced Energetic Etching:

78

The ion enhanced energetic etching has the advantages of both physical and chemical
etching process as shown in Fig. 4.5c. The combine effect of both energetic ions and radical
neutrals can be much larger than each separate ion or radical etching process alone [Flam, 1989].
To understand the ion-enhanced energetic etching process consider that non-volatile etch
products are formed on the surface or that surface compounds are partly dissociated but are still
bounded to the surface. These surface bounded products or compounds will limit the reactions
possible for the fresh neutral radicals arriving at the surface. The energetic ions arriving at the
surface break these surface bonds exposing the atoms of the substrate to the neutral radicals,
increasing its reactivity. The mechanism of ion enhanced energetic etching (ion-assisted etching)
is explained by the reactive spot model [Tach, 1983]. First, the active radical species from the
plasma are adsorbed onto the substrate surface; after that the energetic ion is accelerated through
the sheath and bombards the surface. The ion is injected in the surface and under goes repeated
elastic and non elastic collisions with atoms in the substrate. The ion energy is transformed to
lattice oscillations and is finally given to the radicals adsorbed on the surface with the result that
desorption occurs. Therefore the chemical etching is promoted by one injected ion. The etch rate
in this process increases when the ion energy is increased beyond a certain threshold of a few
electron volts determined by the properties of the substrate material e.g., the bonding energy.
Because the energetic ions strike the surface with a highly directional angular distribution, the
etching by this process is highly anisotropic. But the selectivity may be lower compared with the
chemical etching.

4.3.4 Ion-enhanced inhibitor etching:

79

The ion enhanced inhibitor etching process involves an inhibitor species or polymer like
material forming from nonvolatile etching products or a film forming from precursors that
adsorb during the etching process. The role of ion bombardment is to clear the inhibitor from
horizontal surfaces but not the side walls. The inhibitor film, which is deposited on the sidewalls,
is not removed because these surfaces only intercept the few ions that are scattered as they cross
the sheath. With proper optimization, a highly anisotropic etch with vertical sidewalls can be
formed using the ion-enhanced inhibitor etching process. However, the process may not be as
selective as chemical etching.

4.4 Surface interactions of plasma etching:
There are two main parts of plasma etching: 1) the plasma environment and 2) the surface
interactions. The plasma environment part was briefly introduced in section 4.2 above and it will
be developed in more detail below. The process of surface interactions describes the formation of
etchant species and how they react on the surface.

4.4.1 Generating etchant species:
In plasma etching, it is necessary to generate the ions and active neutral species which
bombard and react with the substrate. They are lost by reaction and recombination processes.
Electrons get energy from the electric field, and then via inelastic electron-neutral collisions,
they maintain the supply of ions and radical species for the plasma discharge. Thus, collisions
involving electrons play a critical role in generating and maintaining the species in the discharge.

80

In oxygen plasma discharges, there are two electron impact reactions which are very
important to generating ion and neutral species as follows
e + O2 → O  +2 e
2

[4.29]

e + O2 → O + O

[4.30]

In the ionization process, a bound electron in an atom is ejected from that atom. The
electrons produced by the ionizing collision above can then be accelerated and collide with other
atoms and the multiplication ionization process keeps maintaining the discharge. In addition to
ionization the electrons also cause dissociation [Equ. 4.30] and the excitation [Equ. 4.31-4.33].
This excitation process can result in emission of photons which appears as a glow of the
discharge.
*
e + O2 → O 2

[4.31]

*
O 2 → hν

[4.32]

e + O2 → 2 O *

[4.33]

O * → hν

[4.34]

81

*
where O 2 and O * are the excited states of O2 and O. Numerous other chemical reactions can

occur when more than one processing gas is flowed into the chamber.

For diffusion of neutral species, the charge free species are assumed to be hard spheres
with a constant cross section, the diffusion coefficient for molecule A collided with molecules B
is roughly calculated as follow [Lieb, 1994]:

DAB =

where


8

 AB AB

[4.35]

 AB is the mean free path; and  AB is the mean speed of relative motion and is given by

 AB  (

8eT g

M R

1
)2

[4.36]

where Tg is the gas temperature; and M R is the effective reduced mass.
The mean free path is the average distance travelled by a particle before colliding and is given by

 AB =

1

[4.37]

n B AB

where n B is the density of B molecules and  AB    r ArB  is the collision cross section of




A as seen by B molecules; r A and rB are radii of A and B particles.

82

4.4.2 Adsorption and desorption process
After the etchant species are generated in the plasma discharge, they diffuse or flow to
the surface to be etched. These etchant radical species can be absorbed on the surface, produce
reactions on the surface, and then the etch products can be desorbed from the surface. The
desorbed products flow back to the gas phase. However this is a dynamic process where etchants
also can desorbs without reaction or etch products in the gas phase can adsorb back onto the
surface.

In a most general description, adsorption is the reaction of molecules with a surface and
desorption is the reverse reaction process. A simple reaction of these two reaction processes is
A + S → A:S And

A:S → A + S

[4.38]

where A is the molecule and S is the surface. A:S designates that molecular is adsorbed on
surfaces. Adsorption includes two different categories: 1) Physisorption is a process due to the
weak attractive van der Waals force between a molecule and a surface [Kreu, 1986]; and 2)
Chemisorption is due to the formation of a chemical bond between the atom or molecule and the
surface [Schr, 1971].

Physisorbed molecules are often so weakly bound to the surface that they can diffuse
rapidly along the surface. The change in enthalpy |∆H| of physisorbed molecules around 1-25
kJ/mol is much less than from chemisorption (~40-400 kJ/mol). Chemisorption of molecules that

83

has bonds in the gas phase can occur with the breaking of one bond as the molecule bonds to the
surface. It can be shown in follow reaction:
A=B +S → AB:S

[4.39]

Followed by the reaction.
AB + S → A:S +B:S

[4.40]

This process is call dissociative chemisorptions and requires two adsorption sites.
The flux of molecules that are adsorbed is given by [Lieb,1994]:

ads 

1
sn AS v
A
4

[4.41]

where n AS is the gas phase volume density of molecules at the surface, v A is the mean speed of
the molecules and s is the sticking coefficient, which is a function of the surface temperature.
The sticking coefficient for different reactions can have a wide range of
10  6 - 1 and it strongly depends on crystal orientation and surface roughness [Morr, 1984].

In thermal equilibrium, the two reactions of adsorption and desorption must balance. The
desorption rate constant can be calculated as follows [Zang, 1988]:

  d
K d  K 0 exp
k T
 B s






[4.42]

84

where:  d is the energy to desorb a species from the surface. K 0 is the number of attempted
escapes per second from the adsorption well and Ts is the substrate temperature. Typically, K 0
is around 10

14

16 -1

to10

s for physisorption and 10

13

15 -1

to 10

s

for chemisorp process. Another

important quantity is the percentage of the surface covered with adsorbed species. The quantity
is indicated as θ surface coverage.

4.4.3 Chemical kinetics:
Many chemical reactions proceed in stages or steps involving a series of elementary
processes. The series of elementary reactions leading from reactants to products is called the
mechanism of the reaction. The most important elementary reactions are uni-molecular (A→
products), bimolecular (A+B→ products) and termolecular (A+B+C→ products). The reaction
rate R is an important parameter used in chemical reaction kinetic and it is defined as:

R=

1 dn j
for all j;
 j dt

[4.43]

where n j is the volume density of molecules of the jth substance and  j is the stoichiometric
coefficient with the negative value for reactants and positive for products. A significant effort in
chemical kinetics has been to determine the set of elementary reactions with stoichiometric
coefficient. Consider a chemical reaction in a closed system such as
3A + B → 2C + 4D

[4.44]

The stoichiometric coefficients for this reaction are: α1=-3, α2=-1, α3=2, α4=4.
85

In general, the reaction rate R is determined as follows:


For unimolecular reaction:
R =-



dn A
= K1 n A ;
dt

For biomolecular reaction:
R =



[4.45]

dnA
d
  B  K 2 n An B
dt
dt

[4.46]

For termolecular reaction:
R =

dn
dnA
d
  B   C  K3n AnB nC
dt
dt
dt

[4.47]

The constants K1 , K 2 , and K 3 are the first, second and third order rate constant
respectively. They are functions of the temperature but are independent of the densities as
described in equation 4.48.
The rate coefficient can be transformed into linear form as follow:

ln( K (T ))  ln( A) 

E
k BT

[4.48]

Since E, activation energy, is always positive, the negative slope
increases with T increase and decreases with 1/T increase.

4.4.4 Surface kinetic models:

86

E
indicates that K(T)
kB

The gas-solid reactions that occur on the surface are the most important processes for
plasma etching. There are two mathematical models used to calculate the reaction rates (gassolid reactions) occur on the surface.

The first simple model was developed by Langmuir to treat the single site surface
reaction mechanism and later modified by Hinshelwood to treat the dual site mechanism. This
model is called Langmuir-Hinshelwood kinetic model [Mase, 1996]. The assumptions for this
model are: 1) The surface of the adsorbent is uniform, that is all the adsorption sites are
equivalent. 2) Adsorbed molecules do not interact. 3) The surface is not fully covered by a mono
layer of adsorbed species. 4) One molecule is adsorbed per active site due to a strong valence
bond.

To illustrate the Langmuir-Hinshelwood model consider the adsorption and desorption of
two gas molecules A and B on a surface S. The reactions occur as follows:

Ka
1
A + S <=> A:S

[4.49]

Kd1
Ka
B + S <=> B:S
2

[4.50]

Kd
2

Kr

A:S +B:S → AB + 2S

[4.51]
87

The rate equations are

dn AS
 K a1 1   A   B n AS  n BS    A K d1n AS
dt

[4.52]

dnBS
 K a2 1   A   B n BS   B K d 2 n BS
dt

[4.53]

The surface fractions covered with A and B molecules in thermal equilibrium are θ A and
θB and from the Langmuir isotherm equation they are [Lieb, 1994]:

θA=

K A n AS
1  K A n AS  K B n BS

[4.54]

θB =

K B n BS
1  K A n AS  K B n BS

[4.55]

where KA =

K a1
is ratio between the rate constant for adsorption K a1and the rate constant for
K d1

desorption K d1, n AS is the rate adsorption of molecules A on surface S and nBS is the rate
adsorption of molecules b on surface S.

88

And KB =

K a2
is ratio between the rate constant for adsorption K a2 and the rate constant for
Kd 2

desorption K d 2
The rate of production of AB is

'2
RAB = K r n0  A B

[4.56]

At low pressure, KAnAS « 1 and KB nBS « 1, the kinetic reaction is second order, then

RAB = K r

K a1K a 2 ' 2
n0 n AS n BS
K d1K d 2

[4.57]

The second model of the surface reaction mechanism involves the reaction of adsorbed A
directly with a bombardment molecule B from the gas phase. This model is called the EleyRideal kinetics. One or both molecules must be highly reactive. This model is expressed as
follows:

Ka
A + S 1<=> A:S

[4.58]

Kd
1

Ka
2
B + S <=> B:S

[4.59]

Kd2
Kr
A:S +B → AB + S

[4.60]
89

Assuming that the reaction itself is the rate-limiting step, the rate equation is then:

'
RAB = K r n0  An BS

[4.61]

'
where no is the surface site area density.
At low pressure, the kinetic reaction is second order, and the rate of production is:

'
RAB = K r K An0 n AS n BS

[4.62]

4.4.5 A simple empirical model for diamond etching:
A simple model to calculate the diamond etch rate based on the theory of plasma etching
is presented in this section. Diamond can be etched by oxidation to form CO or CO2 using an
oxygen plasma. So oxygen atoms and ions produced from an oxygen discharge is the key factor
to remove diamond. The additive of an inert (argon) gas at a small flow rate (6 sccm) in the gas
mixture is mainly to help stabilize the plasma discharge and provide ions for the ion assisted
etching process [Flam, 1989].

Diamond is reactive ion etched by an oxygen plasma in two steps [Neve, 2001]:
1) Formation of graphite;
Cdia + O → COads (adsorbed carbon monoxide)

[4.63]

COads + CO → C (graphite) + CO2↑

[4.64]
90

2) Oxidation of the graphite;
C + O → C:O

[4.65]

Ion + C:O → CO↑

[4.66]

Diamond also is sputtered by the energetic oxygen ions as follows:
Ion + C → C↑

[4.67]

Equation 4.68 describes the adsorption of O atoms on the surface that reacts with
diamond (Cdia) to form adsorbed carbon monoxide. Equation 4.69 describes the reaction
between adsorption carbon monoxides to form carbon (graphite) and CO2 (gas out). The carbon
(graphite) then reacts with oxygen atoms to form a surface carbon-oxygen bond as given in
equation 4.70. Equation 4.71 represents the ion assisted desorption in the case of reactive ion
etching. And the last equation shows the sputter of diamond by energetic ion bombardment on
the surface. A considerable amount of effort has been make to unravel the ratio of CO/CO 2
products forming from oxidative diamond etching by [Lain, 1963], and [Arth, 1951]. Researcher
came to a consensus that oxygen chemisorbed on a diamond surface desorbs as CO and to a
lesser extent as CO2 according to [Thom, 1992] and [Ando, 1993]. An approximate volume
density ratio of

CO
= 300 is suggested for low pressure processes [Chak, 1995]. So we can
CO 2

neglect the forming of the CO2 product from the chemical etching of diamond.

91

A simple model of the reactive ion etching diamond based on the Langmuir-Hinshelwood
kinetic model is shown in Fig. 4.8. There are two main processes that contribute to the removal
of diamond from the surface: a) by the flux of positive oxygen ions physically bombarding on
the surface and removing carbon by sputtering or ion enhanced etching; and b) by O atoms
reacting with the C on the surface and chemically forming the C:O bonds, then desorbing as CO
molecules.

Let us assume that the fraction of surface site θ, covered with C:O bonds, has a surface

'
site area density n0 . And the fraction of uncovered C:O surface is (1-θ) where the oxygen atoms
incident on the surface are assumed to react with C to form C:O or the energetic ions sputter on
the surface to release carbon atoms.
+

O
Ki

O

C

+

O

CO

CO
Kd

γi Ki Ka

Yi Ki
θ
C:O

1-θ
C

Figure 4.8: A simple of diamond etching model

We assume that n 0 S is the density of the oxygen atoms in the gas phase at the surface
and niS is the oxygen ion density at the plasma sheath edge. The flux of oxygen atoms adsorbing
on the surface is proportional to the fraction of sites uncovered area (1-θ), so the flux of CO
forming from chemical reactions on the surface is calculated as follow [Lieb, 1994]:

92

'
ads  K a nOS n0 (1   )

[4.68]

The flux of CO atoms desorbed from the surface (by thermal desorption) is:

'
desor  K d n0 ( )
1

[4.69]

The flux of CO atoms desorbed from the surface (by ion assisted) is:
'
desor 2  Yi K i niS n0 ( )

[4.70]

The sputtering process causing the flux of C that is ejected from the surface:
'
C   i K i niS n0

[4.71]

where Ki is the rate constant for ions incident on the surface,  i is the physical sputtering yield
and Yi is the rate desorption.
The steady state condition for CO flux (adsorbs and desorb) is:

'
'
ads  desorb  desorb2  K a nOS n0 (1   )  K d  Yi Ki niS n0
1

[4.72]

The surface coverage is then obtained as equation below:



K a nOS
K a nOS  K d  Yi K i niS 

[4.73]

The vertical etch rate RV is assumed to be flux of desorbed CO ( CO ) and flux of C ejected by
the sputtering process ( C ).
93

Or:

RV 

CO  C
nC

[4.74]

where nC is the carbon atom volume density.

The CO desorption flux is calculated from equation 4.69 and 4.70 as follow:

'
CO  K d  Yi Ki niS n0

[4.75]

Rewriting Equ.4.79 gives the etch rate as

RV =

'
n0
( K d Y iKi niS )  iKi niS 
nC

[4.76]

Replace θ from Equ. 4.78, Equ.81 becomes:
'
n0
RV =
nC

 K d  Yi K i niS K a nOS

 iK i n iS 

 K a nOS  K d  Yi K i niS


n'
RV = 0
nC





K a nOS

 iK i n iS 
K a nOS


1
 K Y K n

d
i i iS



(1)

[4.77]

[4.78]

+ (2)

We can see the etch rate is included two parts: 1) etch rate from reactive ion etching process and
2) etch rate from pure physical sputtering process.

94

In order to calculate the etch rate from equation 4.78, the rate constants of adsorption,
desorption and other quantities like ion and neutral densities need to be determined. First the
expression for the adsorption rate coefficient K a is given [Lieb, 1994]:
1/ 2
1  8k B T0 


Ka 

' 
4n0  M 0 

[4.79]

'
where n0 is the surface site area density; T0 and M 0 are the neutral gas temperature and the
mass of oxygen atom respectively.

'
Taking the surface state area density for diamond ( n0 ) as 1.57 x 1019 m  2 [Pate, 1986].
The density of atomic oxygen is calculated using the gas law relations:
P
1  P2
n1T1 n2T2

[4.80]

where P is the atmospheric pressure; n1 is the oxygen molecular density at atmospheric and T1 is
1
the ambient temperature (300 K). P2 , n2 and T2 are the processing pressure, the oxygen
molecular density inside plasma, and the gas temperature (350 K) respectively.

At atmospheric pressure, the oxygen molecular density fill in the process chamber is:

n1 

6.022 x10 23
 2.68 x10 25 m 3
0.0224

[4.81]

95

So from Eq. 4.85, at 4 mTorr of processing pressure, assuming a gas temperature T2 of 350 K,
the oxygen molecular density is:
nTP
2.68 x10 25 x300 x5.26 x10  6
n2  1 1 2 
 12.08 x1019 m  3
P T2
1x350
1

[4.82]

It is assumed that the oxygen molecules are dissociated inside the discharge and 10% of
them remain in the form of neutrals at the diamond surface. Hence the oxygen neutral density

nos is assumed to be 12.08 x1018 m  3 .

The value of K a is:

1/ 2
1
1  8k BT0 

Ka 
=
 M 

'
0 
4n0 
4 x1.57 x1019

 8 x1.38 x10  23 x350


 27
 3.1416 x16 x1.67 x10

1/ 2





K a = 1.08 10 17 m 3 s 1

K d is the rate constant for thermal desorption of CO. It is related to the binding energy and the
substrate temperature as follows:

  Eb 
K d  K 0 exp
k T 

 B s

[4.83]

96

where K 0 is the number of attempted escapes per second. For chemisorptions process, K 0 is
range from 10

13

to 10

15 s 1

. The binding energy for the diamond crystal E B is approximately

calculated to be 3.26 eV per bond [Ohat, 1960].

Assuming K 0 is 10

14 s 1

and the value of Ts is 293 K degree then K d is calculated to be:





 3.26eV
 =6.5 10  43  s 1 
K d  1014 exp


eV


 8.610 5 ( ) x 293 K 


K


The rate constant for ions incident on the surface Ki is related to the sheath Bohm velocity and
the electron temperature Te as follow:
1/ 2
u
1  k BTe 


Ki  B 

'
' 
n0 n0  M i 

[4.84]

'
The diamond surface density n0 is 1.57x 1019 m  2 . The electron temperature Ti is
approximately 4 eV and the oxygen ion mass is 16.
1/ 2
 1.38 x10  23 x(4 x11605 ) 
uB
1



So K i 
= 3.11 x 10 16 m3 s 1

'
19 
 27
n0 1.57 x10 
16 x1.67 x10


The yield of the CO molecules desorbed per incident ion on a fully covered surface
depends on the ion energy Ei . The factor giving the efficiency of bond breaking by the incident
ion is  ( (  1) and the energy that binds the molecule (oxygen) to the diamond surface is

97

E
Eb [Lieb, 1994]. A crude model is that Yi   i . Assuming the ion enhanced sputter desorption
Eb
yield Yi  2 .
The value for the oxygen ion density on the diamond surface is assumed to
be niS  4 x1016 m 3 . The atomic volume density of the diamond is known as 1.79x 10 29 m 3 .

Usually the sputter yield factor  i for carbon is quite small so the diamond etch rate in an
oxygen plasma can be modified from Equ. 4.78 as:

'
n0
RV 
nC



K a nOS

K a nOS

1  K  Y K n
d
i i iS











1.57 x1019 
1.08 x10 17 x12.08 x1018


1.79 x10 29 
1.08 x10 17 x12.08 x1018
1 
 6.5 x10  43  2 x3.11x10 16 x 4 x1016

RV  0.882 x 10 10 x 20.89(m / s ) = 6.63 μm/hr

98









Thus the empirical model for calculation the diamond etching rate is in good agreement
with experimental etching process. The experimental diamond etching rate for oxygen plasma at
a pressure of 4 mTorr is in the range from 4 to 8 μm/hr.

Consider the etching process without the presence of the bias energy, the Equ. 4.78
become

n'
RH  0
nC


 K n
a OS

1  K a nOS

Kd









[4.85]



 1.08 x10 17 x12.08 x1018
= 1.016x 10 10 
17 x12.08 x1018
1  1.08 x10

6.5 x10  43










R H  6.6 x10  54  0 μm/hr

So for the low pressure processing, the purely chemical etching rate is essentially to the zero.
This means the energetic ions contribute a critical factor to the etching process.

99

CHAPTER 5
CHARACTERIZATION OF PLASMA ETCHER

5.1 Introduction
Plasma parameters such as electron density, electron temperature and electron energy
distribution function (EEDF) play an important role for understanding and optimizing the etching
process. The plasma properties of the Lambda Technologies etching machine were characterized
using both visual imaging and the single Langmuir probe (SLP) diagnostics method. The results
of this plasma characterization are described in this chapter. These results also help provide an
explanation for the etching results presented in Chapter 6.

5.2 Plasma behavior
The discharge or plasma shape varies with the cavity mode operation, which is
determined by the short and probe location. And the etching uniformity, which depends on the
plasma uniformity, plays an important role in the etching process. So in order to optimize the
etching system, the discharge formed in the cavity has been observed in certain operating modes.
A reflection mirror is set on the top of the moveable chuck and the plasma is observed through
the side window as shown in Fig. 5.1.

100

Permanent
Magnet
Plasma
Window

Mirror

Camera

Figure 5.1: Plasma shape imaging set up.

For each pressure regime, the plasma shape was observed and recorded for the best
plasma shape by a Canon S2 digital camera. The plasma discharge shape was recorded for
pressures of 2 mTorr up to 100 mTorr. The plasma shape is observed from below through the
side window as shown in Fig. 5.2. The plasma shape images were taken for both the ECR
operating configuration and non-ECR operating configuration. The ECR configuration is
achieved when the ring of permanent magnets is present. The permanent magnets are removed
for the non-ECR configuration.

101

Figure 5.2: The plasma shape picture as observed from below using a mirror sitting on the
substrate holder that is viewed through a window.

102

5.2.a The ECR plasma behavior

17.6 cm
(a)

21.56 cm
(e)

18.24 cm

19.66 cm

20.14 cm

(b)

(c)

(d)

22.35 cm

24.23 cm

(f)

24.39 cm
(g)

(h)

Figure 5.3: The ECR plasma shape variation with the cavity length
Probe = 3.0 cm, Pressure = 10 mTorr, 6 sccm Ar, and microwave power of 300 W.

Figure 5.3 shows the plasma discharge variation for the ECR regime of a operation as the
cavity short length in the ECR regime is increased at a pressure of 10 mTorr. It can be seen that
the light emission uniformity varies in this case of an ECR plasma for all positions of cavity
length because of the magnetic field effect. The plasma looks more uniform at the 21.56 cm
position of the short and it changes its shape at different positions.

Figure 5.4 shows the discharge shape versus microwave incident power. The microwave
incident power of 500 W is shown in Fig. 5.4 a, and 700 W and 900 W are shown in Fig. 5.4 b-c,

103

respectively. The lower microwave power created a brighter region around the discharge edge as
shown in Figure 5.4 a. High input power created a brighter area in the center.

(a)

(b)

(c)

Figure 5.4: The ECR plasma shape varied with the microwave incident power at a
pressure of 4 mTorr and gas flow rate of 10 sccm argon.

TM 012

12.65 cm

13.3 cm

13.8 cm

(a)

(b)

(c)

19.65 cm

20.15 cm

20.55 cm

TM 013

(d)

(e)

(f)

Figure 5.5: ECR plasma shapes versus short position and modes

104

The short position was around TM012 for (a-c) and TM013 for (d-f) modes with a
pressure of 4 mTorr, a gas flow rate of 10 sccm argon, and a microwave power of 700 W.
Figure 5.5 a-c shows the plasma shapes as the short position is varied around the

TM 012 mode. And Figure 5.5 d-f shows the plasma discharge shape as the short position is
varied around the position of the TM 013 mode. The plasma shape has similarity in both cases
except that the bright spots around the edge are more pronounced in the TM 013 mode than in the

TM 012 mode.

(a)

(b)

Figure 5.6: Comparison of plasma shape versus different gas mixtures for a pressure of 15
mTorr, a microwave power of 900 W, LS = 13.6 cm, LP = 3 cm.

Figure 5.6 a-b shows the plasma discharge with a gas mixture of Ar:SF6 =10:2 sccm and
Ar:SF6:O2= 10:2:20 sccm, respectively. The plasma shapes are the same in both case. The
addition of oxygen flow in the Ar : SF6 gas mixture does not significantly effect the plasma
shape.

105

Figure 5.7 a through g shows an argon plasma discharge at pressures of 2, 7, 10, 15, 25,
45 and 100 mTorr, respectively. The plasma images have higher brightness in the center for the
pressure regime of 7-25 mTorr. At pressures of 45 and 100 mTorr, the plasma emission intensity
is more focused at the edge than in the center.

(a)

(b)

2 mTorr

7 mTorr

(e)

(f)

25 mTorr

45 mTorr

(c)
10 mTorr

(d)
15 mTorr

(g)
100 mTorr

Figure 5.7: Plasma shape at different pressures for an argon gas flow rate of 10 sccm, a
microwave power of 500 W, LS = 13.8 cm and LP = 3 cm.

106

500 W
(a)

700 W
(b)

900 W
(c)

Figure 5.8: Plasma shape versus microwave power for a gas mixture of Ar:O2:SF6= 6:20:2 sccm,
a pressure of 4 mTorr, LS = 13.3 cm, LP = 3 cm.

Three different input microwave powers of 500 W, 700 W and 900 W were used to
investigate the plasma discharge for a gas mixture of Ar:O2:SF6 at a pressure of 4 mTorr as
shown in Figure 5.8 a-c, respectively. The discharge shape is formed following the magnet field
structure present between the alternating magnet poles. The plasma discharge at a microwave
power of 700 W shows more uniformity than the ones at 500 W and 900 W.

During the etching process, the reflected microwave power needs to be taken into
account. Initially, the operator adjusts the cavity length around a specific mode
( TM 012 or TM 013 ) location, as shown in Fig. 5.2, to get the minimum reflected power (that
means more absorb power into the plasma). A near perfect zero reflect microwave power can be
achieved to maximize the energy transfer from the source, however this only lasts a short time
because of nature of the dynamic plasmas. How close to zero reflected power needs to maintain
for optimizing the etching process is an important question in terms of uniform etching? By
107

observing the plasma shape with the reflected power less than 15% of the incident power, we can
see the microwave reflected power of 34 W or 7 % of the incident power will give better
performance in terms of plasma uniformity (Fig. 5.9 c).

10 W
(a)

24 W

34 W

(b)

(c)

77 W
(d)

Figure 5.9: Plasma shape versus reflected microwave power with a gas mixture of Ar:O2:SF6=
6:20:2 sccm, a pressure of 4 mTorr, an incident microwave power of 500 W, LS = 17.55 to 17.7
cm, LP= 3 cm.

When operating an Ar : O2 : SF6 plasma, it is desired to know the best position of the
cavity length that gives a plasma shape which appears the most uniform. Figure 5.10 a-d shows
the plasma shape variation with cavity length. At a pressure of 45 mTorr, the plasma uniformity
is good at LS=13.7 cm as show in Fig. 5.10 c.

108

LS=13.4 cm
(a)

LS=13.6 cm

LS=13.7 cm

(b)

(c)

LS=13.8 cm
(d)

Figure 5.10: Plasma shape versus cavity length with a gas mixture of Ar:O2:SF6= 10:20:2 sccm,
a pressure of 45 mTorr, an incident microwave power of 900 W, LP = 3 cm.

Based on the images from the plasma etcher operating in an ECR configuration, some keys
settings to optimize the etcher system are


For TM 013 operation, good plasma uniformity can be obtained at 21.56 cm and 3 cm for
the short and probe positions, respectively.



For TM 012 operation, good plasma uniformity can be obtained at 13.7 cm and 3 cm for
the short and probe positions, respectively.



A microwave reflected power at 7 % of the incident power give better performance in
terms of plasma uniformity.

5.2. b The non_ECR plasma behavior:

109

4 mTorr
(a)

45 mTorr

(e)

10 mTorr
(b)

15 mTorr
(c)

25 mTorr
(d)

100 mTorr

(f)

Figure 5.11: Non-ECR plasma shape versus pressure with argon gas flow rate of 10 sccm, a
pressure of 4-100 mTorr, a microwave power of 700 W in the TM 012 mode.

The non-ECR plasma images show the discharge light emission is more diffuse
everywhere in the chamber as compared to ECR plasmas. Figure 5.11 a-f show the plasma
discharge variation from 4-100 mTorr for the TM 012 mode and Fig. 5.12 a-f show the plasma
discharge variation from 4-100 mTorr for the TM 013 mode. Comparing between two non-ECR
plasma modes, it is hard to see any difference between the plasma behaviors because of the
mode.

110

4 mTorr
(a)

45 mTorr
(e)

10 mTorr
(b)

15 mTorr
(c)

25 mTorr
(d)

100 mTorr
(f)

Figure 5.12: Non-ECR plasma shape versus pressure with an argon gas flow rate of 10 sccm, a
pressure of 4-100 mTorr, a microwave power of 700 W, and aTM013 mode.

5.3 Plasma diagnostic using a single Langmuir probe (SLP)
5.3.1 Introduction
The Langmuir probe is a fundamental tool for plasma diagnostics that is used to
determine several basic plasma properties, such as the plasma density and the electron
temperature. This diagnostic technique is well established and suitable for low pressure gas
discharges. It works by inserting one or more electrodes into the plasma. The current density

111

flowing to the surface of the probe tip is measured as a function of the voltage applied to one of
the electrodes. This yields an I-V characteristic as shown in Fig. 5.13.

Figure 5.13: Single Langmuir probe I-V curve.
By using the SLP diagnostic method, we can measure the ion saturation current Is, the
electron energy distribution function (EEDF), the electron temperature Te, and the plasma charge
density ne.

5.3.2 The single Langmuir probe structure
The single Langmuir probe structure is shown in Fig. 5.14. The probe electrode is made
of tungsten to handle the high temperature from the plasma environment. The probe‘s radius is
0.406 mm. The probe is enclosed by a quartz tube with a diameter of 5 mm. One of the ends of

112

the tungsten probe is exposed to the plasma with a length of 2 mm. The other end of the tungsten
rod is soldered to a braided steel wire enclosed by another quartz tube with a diameter of 1 cm to
increase the mechanical strength.

Figure 5.14: The single Langmuir probe structure
Shrink wrap is placed around the steel wire and the quartz tube base to prevent the
internal twisting of the solder joint to the brittle tungsten rod. The shrink wrap is covered by a
woven ceramic cloth for heat resistance. The probe is connected to an external measurement

113

device outside of the chamber through a multi-pin electrical feed through as shown in Fig. 5.16.
A wire is connected to the chamber wall (ground).

5.3.3 The single Langmuir probe set up:

Single Langmuir Probe

SLP base

Electrical Wire

Figure 5.15: The single Langmuir probe set up.

The Single Langmuir Probe (SLP) experimental set up for characterization of the plasma
etcher is shown in Fig. 5.15. It is constructed of a SLP probe, as described in Fig. 5.14,
positioned at a precise location in the discharge by a stainless steel apparatus base. The base sits
on the movable chuck holder.

114

Figure 5.16: The SLP probe measurement diagram.

115

The probe tip can be positioned at a specific z direction using the movable chuck holder
which is controlled by the computer. The positioning apparatus for the SLP probe is shown in
Fig. 5.16.

5.3.4 Theory of the SLP:

Sheath

Plasma

Tungsten rod

Quartz Tube

Figure 5.17: Magnified view of small area near SLP probe.

116

When the probe is inserted into the plasma region, it is surrounded by a plasma sheath as
shown in Fig. 5.17. The thickness of the sheath is of the order of a Debye
  kT
length  D   0 e

2
 ne e

1/ 2


. For a low pressure regime, the value of Debye length is typical in the



order of 0.02 mm if the plasma density is ne  8.5x1011cm3 .

Under conditions that the probe is an open circuit connection, the flux of electrons and
positive ions reaching the probe is equally. This condition occurs when the applied probe voltage
V A is equal to the floating potential V f . When the probe voltage V A is a large negative, any

incident electron will be reflected back into the bulk plasma due to the repulsive force imposed
by the probe electric field on those electrons. Thus the electric current is mostly contributed by
the ions falling into the probe. When the probe voltage V A equals the plasma potential V P , the
probe is at the same potential as the plasma, so more electrons reach the probe than the ions due
to electrons travel much faster and having a higher energy than the ions. When the probe voltage
is greater than V P and electrons are attracted to the probe. So when the probe voltage is varied
from a negative to a positive value, an I-V curve will be measured as shown in Fig. 5.13.

The electron energy distribution function (EEDF) is determined from the second derivative of
the I-V curve as follows [Lieb, 1994]. Assuming an electron travels in the bulk plasma with a
velocity ν. The minimum velocity that an electron must have at the plasma sheath edge to reach
the probe is given as
117

1/ 2


2e(Vp  V A ) 
 min  


me



[5.1]

where V P is the plasma potential; V A is the applied voltage probe and me is the electron mass.
The electron current normal to a planar probe in Cartesian coordinates is expressed as
 
I e  eA

 



  z f e  d z d y d x

[5.2]

    min

where A= 2πrl is the physical collecting area of the probe and f e ( ) is the electron velocity
distribution function.

Equation 5.2 can be rewritten in spherical coordinates with the change of variable  

1
m 2 as
2e

follow:


 V 

2e3
Ie 
A  1   f e  d

  

m2

[5.3]



Performing a second differential of equation 5.3 with respect to V gives:
d 2 I e 2e 3

Af e V 

dV 2
m2

[5.4]

The electron distribution function (EEDF) g e is defined as follow:

 2e 
g e   2  
m

3/ 2

1 / 2 f e  


[5.5]

118

Combine equation 5.4 and 5.5, we obtain:

1
2m  2eV  2  d 2 I e 

g e V  

 
2  m   dV 2 
Ae



[5.6]

Equation 5.6 shows the value of EEDF g e V  is calculated directly from the measured value of

the second derivative

d 2Ie
.
2
dV

Two different EEDF curves include the Maxwellian EEDF and Druyvesteyn EEDF. The
normalized Maxwellian EEDF is given as [Perr, 02]:

3

g    2.073 k BTe 
2


3 / 2

 1 / 2 exp   / k BTe 

[5.7]

where ε is the electron energy (eV).
The normalized Druyvesteyn EEDF is given below [Gund, 01]:




3 / 2


2
3

g    1.038  k B Te 
 1 / 2 exp  0.5471

2
2


3

 k B Te  

2
 


[5.8]

The Maxwellian EEDF assumes: 1) the electron-electron collisions are much more frequent
than electron-neutral collisions and 2) the collision frequency is constant versus electron energy.

119

The Druyvesteyn EEDF assumes 1) the electron-neutral collisions are most frequent and 2) the
electron-neutral collision cross section versus electron energy is constant.

The electron temperature is determined by numerically integrating the EEDF as follows:

Te 

i
2 max
2
  i g  i   3  ave
3
i 1

[5.9]

where T e is the electron temperature (eV); and  ave is the average electron energy (eV).
The electron density ne can be determined from the EEDF distribution function as follows:



ne   g e d
0

[5.10]

In case of the ion mean free path λi » λDe (the Debye length), the charge density is determined
by the formula [Perr, 2002]:

ne =

Is
(0.61)eAP

Mi
eTe

[5.11]

where Is is the ion saturation current, Ap is the effective area of the probe, Mi is the mass of
argon atom, and Te is the electron temperature (V).

120

d 2I
The second derivative
can be determined by measuring the second harmonic current
dV 2

response of the probe, point by point, to a small applied voltage signal using a Lock-in Amplifier
(L.I.A) device.
d 2I
The next section describes how to derive the second derivative
from an I-V curve.
dV 2

5.3.5 Method to measure the second derivative

d 2I
from an I-V curve using a Taylor series
dV 2

expansion

In order to experimental determined the second derivative

d 2I
, the Taylor series is used to
dV 2

approximate the second derivative of current function. In the I-V curve collected from SLP probe
as shown in Fig. 5.13, the current (I) varies as a function of voltage probe V. This function can
be expressed by a Taylor series expansion near an applied voltage point Vx .
k
  I V x V  V x k




I V   
k!
k 0

[5.12]

where I k V x  is the k th derivative of the current I (V= V x ). If a small sinusoidal signal voltage
with an amplitude ν is applied to the probe

V  Vx  sin t 

[5.13]

And I(V) = I Vx  sin t 

[5.14]
121

Substituting Equ.5.13 and 5.14 into 5.12, then Equ.5.12 becomes:
k

  I V x  sin t k




I V x   sin t   
k!
k 0

[5.14]

The amplitude of the sinusoidal signal is quite small so the higher order terms the Taylor series
expansion are negligible. Equation 5.14 can be simplified and rearranged as follows [Perr, 1994]:

 I 2nd
d 2I
 4
2
 2
dV







[5.15]

The small signal second harmonic I 2nd is detected and measured by a lock-in amplifier (L.I.A)
applied to the measurement circuit.

5.4 The SLP characterization results
This section describes the results from the single Langmuir probe used to characterize the
plasma properties produced from the Lambda etcher. An Argon plasma is mostly used for the
measurements. Other plasma discharge like oxygen ( O 2 ) and sulfur hexafluoride ( SF6 ) plasmas
will physically damaged the SLP probe and hence were not measured with the SLP.

5.4.1 Electron energy distribution function (EEDF) variation with pressure

122

Figures 5.18-5.25 show SLP results for the EEDF of the plasma etcher (Ar flow rate of 10
sccm, measured at the base of the discharge (r= 0, z= 0), P= 700 W, TM013 modes), for various
pressures from 4 mTorr to 45 mTorr.

Eave  5.17 eV

Figure 5.18: EEDF at pressure of 4 mTorr (ECR).

123

Eave  5.17 eV

Figure 5.19: EEDF (semi-log plot) at pressure of 4 mTorr (ECR).

124

Eave  8.22 eV

Figure 5.20: EEDF at pressure of 4 mTorr (non-ECR)

125

Eave  8.22 eV

Figure 5.21: EEDF (semi-log plot) at pressure of 4 mTorr (non-ECR)

126

Eave  4.23 eV

Figure 5.22: EEDF at pressure of 10 mTorr (ECR)

127

Eave  4.23 eV

Figure 5.23: EEDF (semi-log plot) at pressure of 10 mTorr (ECR).

128

Eave  7.005 eV

Figure 5.24: EEDF at pressure of 10 mTorr (non-ECR).

129

Eave  7.005 eV

Figure 5.25: EEDF (semi-log plot) at pressure of 10 mTorr (non-ECR).

130

Eave  3.81 eV

Figure 5.26: EEDF at pressure of 15 mTorr (ECR).

131

Eave  3.81 eV

Figure 5.27: EEDF (semi-log plot) at pressure of 15 mTorr (ECR).

132

Eave  6.42 eV

Figure 5.28: EEDF at pressure of 15 mTorr (non-ECR)

133

Eave  6.42 eV

Figure 5.29: EEDF (semi-log plot) at pressure of 15 mTorr (non-ECR).

134

Eave  3.24 eV

Figure 5.30: EEDF at pressure of 25 mTorr (ECR).

135

Eave  3.24 eV

Figure 5.31: EEDF (semi-log plot) at pressure of 25 mTorr (ECR).

136

Eave  5.28 eV

Figure 5.32: EEDF at pressure of 25 mTorr (non-ECR)

137

Eave  5.28 eV

Figure 5.33: EEDF (semi-log plot) at pressure of 25 mTorr (non-ECR).

138

Eave  2.89 eV

Figure 5.34: EEDF at pressure of 45 mTorr (ECR).

139

Eave  2.89 eV

Figure 5.35: EEDF (semi-log plot) at pressure of 45 mTorr (ECR).

140

Eave  3.27 eV

Figure 5.36: EEDF at pressure of 45 mTorr (non-ECR)

141

Eave  3.27 eV

Figure 5.37: EEDF (semi-log plot) at pressure of 45 mTorr (non-ECR)

The SLP probe was positioned at the center of the discharge (r=0, z=0). Discharges of magetized
(ECR) and non-magnetized (Non-ECR) operating modes were measure using the SLP probe for
comparison purposes. The EEDF‘s of these measurements varied versus pressures of 4, 10, 15,
25 and 45 mTorr as shown in Fig. 5.18 - 5.37. Both Maxwellian and Druyvesteyn curves are also
plotted with the same average energy as the experiment plot. The experiment EEDF data point is
represented as the dotted data points. For all measurements, the argon gas flow was 10 sccm, the
power absorbed in the discharge was 700 W, the power reflected from the microwave cavity was
40-50 W and the excitation probe length Lp was held at 3 cm.

142

Figures 5.18, 5.19, 5.22, 5.23, 5.26, 5.27, 5.30, 5.31, 5.34, 5.35 shows the EEDF for the
magnetized discharges. For a low pressure of 4 mTorr, Fig. 5.19 shows that the measurement
data almost fits a Maxwellian profile. The experiment EEDF data generally falls between the
Maxwellian and Druyvesteyn curves at higher pressures of 10, 15, 25 and 45 mTorr. The energy
distribution with the high energy electron tail depleted may be explained from the increased of
electron-neutron collisions at higher pressures.

Figures 5.20, 5.21, 5.24, 5.25, 5.28, 5.29, 5.32, 5.33, 5.36 and 5.37 shows that the EEDF for
the non-magnetized discharge fits the Maxwellian distributions curve best for pressures of 4-15
mTorr. At the higher pressures of 25 and 45 mTorrt it falls between the Maxwellian and
Druyvesteyn curves especially at higher energies of 15 eV or more. The high energy portion of
the electron tail may be depleted as a result of inelastic collisions that deplete high energy
electrons.

Thus, at the lower pressures of 4 mTorr, for both non-magnetized and magnet discharges, the
EEDF best fits the Maxwellian curve especially for electron energies below 20 eV. For the
magnetized ECR discharge, more high energy tail depletion occurs at higher pressures of 10, 15,
25 and 45 mTorr, compared with the non-ECR magnetized discharge.

5.4.2 Plasma density

143

The charge density measurements were taken over a range of pressures as shown in Fig. 5.38
(for ECR and non-ECR plasmas). The discharge power investigated was 700 W and the argon
flow rate was 10 sccm. The probe was located at the center of the chamber r = 0 and it was
positioned below the discharge base at a downstream position of 4 cm. There are significant
differences in charge density between magnetized and non-magnetized operating modes as seen
in Fig. 5.38. The non-magnetized discharge has a higher charge density as compared with the
magnetized discharge. Since the plasma discharge cannot be reliably maintained below 4 mTorr
without magnets, it can be concluded that the presence of magnetic field reduces charge density
but it is beneficial and necessary for operating processes in the very low pressure regime ( ˂ 4
mTorr).

144

Figure 5.38: The plasma density versus pressure. Plasma condition: Ar gas flow rate of 10 sccm,
r =0, z = -4 cm and microwave power = 700 W.

5.4.3. Electron temperature
The electron temperature measured versus pressure is shown in Fig.5.39. The electron
temperature values are determined according to equation 5.9 using the Eave values of the SLP
measurement. The electron temperature is higher for the non-magnetized plasma as compared
145

with the ECR plasma. Lower pressures produce high electron temperature plasma due to the
longer mean free path of the electrons.

Figure 5.39: The electron temperature versus pressure. Plasma condition: Ar gas flow rate of 10
sccm, r =0, z = -4 cm and microwave power = 700 W.

5.4.4. Compare of plasma density between the 17.8 cm and 30.5 cm diameter reactor
Figure 5.40 shows the comparison of plasma density versus pressure between two
reactor: 17.8 cm [Perr, 2002] and 30.5 cm diameter.

146

Figure 5.40: Comparison the plasma density versus pressure for two reactors: 17.8 cm and 30.5
cm.

The density plasma from 30.5 cm diameter reactor (used in this research) is higher
compare with the 17.8 cm diameter reactor. So the Lambda Technologies etcher with 30.5 cm
diameter reactor produces a higher plasma density as compared with the 17.8 cm diameter
reactor.
147

5.5 Summary
Experiments have been performed to develop and characterize the microwave plasma-assisted
etcher. Several selected experimental observations were included in the chapter. A summary of
several observations include
- The Lambda Technologies etcher operates with microwave resonant modes as expected from
earlier work.
- The adjustment of the Short and the Probe such that the microwave reflected power was around
7 % of the incident power gave good performance in terms of plasma uniformity.
- The charge density with non-ECR plasma operation is higher than with ECR plasma operation.
- The plasma charge density increased with pressure increases and operated with plasma high
densities of 7x1011 - 3x1012 .
- The electron temperature decreased with pressure increases.

148

CHAPTER 6
DIAMOND ETCHING EXPERIMENTAL AND RESULTS

6.1 Introduction
Due to the interest in diamond-based electronic devices, MEMS and micro-fabrication
applications, plasma etching plays an important in diamond post processing. The Lambda
Technologies etcher machine was developed from a previous version of the machine based on
designs by Michigan State University. In order to understand the behavior of this plasma etcher
machine, several diamond etching experiments were performed. This chapter presents the
experimental diamond etching results for the Lambda plasma-assisted etching with focus on four
key output parameters: etch rates, anisotropic etching, selectivity and surface smoothness.

6.2 The key plasma-assisted etching reactor input parameters
6.2.1 Microwave power
Microwave power is needed to maintain the ionization process in a gas discharge. More
input microwave power in a discharge will increase the ion density on the surface etched
following the formula [Lieb, 1994]:

Pabs  enis u B AET

[6.1]

149

where Pabs is power absorbed by a plasma, nis is the ion density at the sheath edge, A is the area
for particle loss and ET is the total energy lost per ion-electron pair.

ET  Ec  Esheath

[6.2]

Where Ec is the collisional energy loss per ion-electron pair and Esheathis the energy lost
associated with an electron and ion crossing the sheath.
Therefore a microwave power input increase is expected to increase the etch rate.

6.2.2 Pressure
The pressure is an important factor in plasma etching. It affects the mean free path of the
species and the ion collision frequency. A lower pressure in the process chamber decreases the
ions density but increases the electron temperature (see Chapter 5). So the pressure contributes to
determining the etch rates. Another important consideration for pressure selection is that lower
pressure plasma has few collisions by ions crossing the sheath adjacent to the substrate. The
more directed ion flow across the sheath at lower pressure leads the better anisotropic etching.

6.2.3 Gas flow rates
Since the gas mixture used to etch diamond includes argon (Ar), oxygen ( O 2 ) and sulfur
hexafluoride ( SF6 ), the flow rate of each gas affects the etching result. From the theory of
etching discussed earlier in Chapter 4, oxygen gas is the most important feed gas to etch

150

diamond. Generally a higher proportion of oxygen in the gas mixture will increase the etch rate.
The total gas mixture flow rate also affects the output etching result. For a given pressure regime,
the etch rate often decreases with too low of a gas mixture flow rate. Thus an optimize gas flow
rate is required to maintain a high etch rate [Chak, 1995].

6.2.4 RF substrate Bias
The energy of the ions that strike the substrate is very important for both etch rate and
anisotropic etching. The kinetic energy of the incident ions is directly influenced by the rf
applied bias potential to the substrate. Increasing the bias gives more kinetic energy to the
impinging ions which gives an increase of the etch rate.

6.3 Experimental diamond etching results

6.3.1 Effect of the input variables on diamond etching rates:
All the diamond etching experiments used the same conditions with respect to substrate
location (z position=-4 cm) and TM 013 mode. A series of experiments were performed and a
normal set of input parameters were determined. The normal input parameters included a
pressure of 4 mTorr, a microwave power of 700 W, a substrate bias of -125 V and a gas mixture
of Ar : O2 : SF6 = 6:20:2 sccm. This set of input parameters proved to give good results in terms

151

of etch rate, anisotropic profile, selectivity and surface roughness. The dependence of the etching
results on the various input parameters are described in the following sections.

6.3.1a Microwave power

Figure 6.1: Etch rate versus microwave power. The plasma etching condition included a pressure
of 4 mTorr, a microwave power of 300-900 W, -125 V substrate bias, a constant gas mixture of

Ar : O2 : SF6 = 6:20:2 sccm and a substrate location of z =-4 cm. An aluminum mask was used.

152

The microwave power is an important input variable in determining the diamond etching
rate. Increasing the microwave absorbed power increases the ion density at the sheath boundary
as described in Eq. 6.1 in previous section. The increased ion density has more ions striking the
substrate, which increases the diamond etch rate. The effect of microwave power on the etch rate
is shown in Fig. 6.1.

6.3.1 b Pressure
The chamber pressure is another factor affecting the diamond etching rate since it
changes the mean free path and collision frequency of the species. The etching rates for nanocrystalline diamond, microcrystalline diamond and single crystal diamond versus pressures are
shown in Fig. 6.2. The etching condition was a gas mixture of Ar : O2 : SF6 = 6:20:2 sccm, a
microwave power of 700 W, and a substrate bias of -125 V and the substrate location z =-4 cm.

As we can see the etch rates increase with pressures increases. The microcrystalline
diamond (MCD) etch rate is highest as compared with NCD and SCD diamond. The thickness of
the SCD diamond substrate is quite larger (~1500 µm) compared with MCD and NCD (~5-10
µm). The large thickness of the substrate causes more voltage drop on the surface. This is a
factor causing the lower etching rate of SCD diamond.

153

Figure 6.2: Etch rates versus pressure (ECR). The plasma etching condition included a pressure
of 4-45 mTorr, a microwave power of 700 W, -125 V substrate bias, a constant gas mixture of

Ar : O2 : SF6 = 6:20:2 sccm and a substrate location of z =-4 cm. An aluminum mask was used.

6.3.1 c The substrate induced DC bias

154

The ion energy is very important for both sputtering and reactive ion etching processes.
The RF bias independently applied to the substrate has significant impact on the etch rates by
increasing the kinetic energy of the ions bombarding onto the surface.

Figure 6.3: Etch rate versus induced DC substrate bias. The plasma etching condition included a
pressure of 4 mTorr, a microwave power of 700 W, 0 to-200 V substrate bias, a constant gas
mixture of Ar : O2 : SF6 = 6:20:2 sccm and the substrate location z =-4 cm. An aluminum mask
was used.

155

For the experiment studying the effect of the rf induced dc bias on the diamond etch rate,
a pressure of 4 mTorr, a gas mixture Ar : O2 : SF6 = 6:20:2 sccm, and a power of 700 W was
used. Figure 6.3 shows the etch rate of nano-crystalline diamond versus induced DC bias. The
experimental results show the diamond etching rates increased significantly with bias. For ECR,
the etch rates increased from 0.4 μm/hr (0 V) to 10.3 μm/hr (-200 V). And for non-ECR, the etch
rates is higher from 1.6 μm/hr (0 V) to 15.1 μm/hr (-200 V). The explanation for this is because
the non-ECR plasma has a higher plasma density than the ECR plasma as seen in Chapter 5
section.

6.3.1.d The gas mixture flow rates:

6.3.1.d. 1 Oxygen (O2) flow rate:

Oxygen is the key factor to remove carbon from the diamond surface through the plasma
surface reactions and desorbing CO molecules. Diamond etch rate is expected to vary with the
oxygen flow rate in the feed gas composition. Theoretically, a higher proportion of oxygen in the
feed gas mixture produces a higher diamond etch rate.

156

Figure 6.4: Etch rates versus oxygen flow rate (ECR). The plasma etching condition included a
pressure of 4 mTorr, a microwave power of 700 W, -125 V substrate bias, a gas mixture of

Ar : O2 : SF6 = 6:5-20:2 sccm and a substrate location of z =-4 cm. An aluminum mask was
used.

Fig. 6.4 shows the diamond etching rate versus oxygen flow rate (ECR plasma). The
diamond substrates were boron doped single crystal diamond. The experiment condition was an
argon flow rate of 6 sccm, a pressure of 4 mTorr, a substrate bias of -125 V and a microwave

157

power of 700 W. The results show that the diamond etch rate increased with increased oxygen
flow rate in the gas mixture.
6.3.1.d. 2 Argon (Ar) Flow Rate:

Figure 6.5: Diamond etch rates versus argon flow rate (ECR). The plasma etching condition
included a pressure of 4 mTorr, a microwave power of 700 W, -125 V substrate bias, a gas
mixture of Ar : O2 : SF6 = 6-24:20:2 sccm and a substrate location of z =-4 cm. An aluminum
mask was used.

158

Argon gas does not participate in reactive ion etching because it is a noble gas. Argon
only plasmas result in diamond removal by purely sputtering, and hence the diamond etch rate is
very low [Sand, 1989]. The absence of argon in an oxygen based plasma resulted in
irreproducible etch rates and non uniform surfaces after etching [Grot, 1992]. In order to
understand the effect of argon in the gas mixture, an oxygen flow rate of 20 sccm was kept
constant and the argon flow rate was varied from 6 to 24 sccm in the gas composition. Figure 6.5
shows the diamond etch rate versus argon flow rate. The results show that with more argon
added to the gas mixture, the diamond etch rate is decreased. We observe that the presence of
small amounts of argon (6 – 10 sccm) in the oxygen plasma helps stabilize the plasma during the
etching process while maintaining the same etch rate.

6.3.1.d 3 Sulfur hexafluoride ( SF6 ) flow rate:
Sulfur hexafluoride ( SF6 ) plasmas have been widely used for dry etching silicon based
materials and metals (Ti, W). Without SF6 in the gas mixture, the diamond etched surface
appears with a lot of whisker and very rough as shown in Fig. 6.22. So SF6 gas is added in the
oxygen rich gas mixtures to remove the micro-masking forming on the surface etch.

The effect of SF6 gas on the diamond etch rate is shown in Fig. 6.6. The argon and
oxygen gas flow rate in the gas mixture was kept the same at 6 and 20 sccm, respectively. The

159

SF gas flow rates were varied from 2 to 10 sccm, resulting in the diamond etch rate decreasing
6

with increased SF6 gas flow.

Figure 6.6: Diamond etch rate versus SF6 gas flow rate. The plasma etching condition included a
pressure of 4 mTorr, a microwave power of 700 W, -125 V substrate bias, a gas mixture of

Ar : O2 : SF6 = 6:20:0-10 sccm and a substrate location of z =-4 cm. An aluminum mask was
used.

160

Fig 6.6 shows that SF6 gas flow rate increases have a negative effect on the diamond
etch rate. When adding more SF6 gas in the range from 6 to 10 sccm gas into the gas mixture,
the diamond etch rates significantly decreased. The reason behind the negative effect of SF6 gas
on the diamond etch rate is discussed in work by Mogab [Moga, 1978]. The presence of SF6 in
the feed gas can retard the diamond etch rate due to the [F] atoms produced that can compete
with the oxygen atoms at surface sites. Also the [F] ions can react with carbon on the diamond
surface to form fluorocarbon [ CF3 ] radicals. These radicals can react with the oxygen atoms to
produce the fluoroxy compounds (e.g., CF3OOCF , CF3OF ,…) [Moga, 1978]. So the number
3
of oxygen atoms on the etched surface sites may be reduced causing the lower etch rate. Thus in
order to maintain the high diamond etch rate and keep the etched surface smooth with the
whiskers free, a optimize amount of SF6 gas from 2 to 3 sccm can be added into the oxygen rich
gas mixture.

161

6.3.2 Effect of the pressure on the anisotropic etching profile

Side wall

Vertical
Angle

2 μm
Figure 6.7: SEM cross section image used to measure the anisotropic angle.
Anisotropic etching is an important factor in the etching process. An anisotropic diamond
etching process which removes diamond in the vertical direction is very desirable since it will
follow the photolithography mask pattern with high accuracy.

162

Figure 6.8: Anisotropic diamond etching angle versus pressure. The plasma etching condition
included a pressure of 4 -45 mTorr, a microwave power of 700 W, -125 V substrate bias, a
constant gas mixture of Ar : O2 : SF6 = 6:20:2 sccm and a substrate location of z =-4 cm. An
aluminum mask was used.

The degree of anisotropy is an angle created by the vertical angle of the etched profile
sidewall with respect to the bottom surface as shown in Fig. 6.7. Anisotropic etching angle
versus pressure was investigated on NCD samples as shown in Fig. 6.8. High pressures caused a
163

larger deviation from a perpendicular sidewall feature. Other anisotropic profiles of diamond
etching are achieved at a pressure of 4 mTorr as shown in Figs. 6.9, 6.10 and 6.11 for NCD,
MCD and SCD, respectively.

NCD
Figure 6.9: A highly anisotropic NCD diamond etching profile (SEM image). The plasma
etching condition included a pressure of 4 mTorr, a microwave power of 700 W, -150 V
substrate bias, a constant gas mixture of Ar : O2 : SF6 = 6:20:2 sccm and a substrate location of z
=-4 cm. An aluminum mask was used.

164

MCD
Figure 6.10.: A highly anisotropic MCD diamond etching profile (SEM image). The plasma
etching condition included a pressure of 4 mTorr, a microwave power of 700 W, -125 V
substrate bias, a constant gas mixture of Ar : O2 : SF6 = 6:20:2 sccm and a substrate location of z
=-4 cm. An aluminum mask was used.

165

Etched surface

SCD
Figure 6.11.: A highly anisotropic SCD diamond etching profile (SEM image). The plasma
etching condition included a pressure of 4 mTorr, a microwave power of 700 W, -125 V
substrate bias, a constant gas mixture of Ar : O2 : SF6 = 6:20:1 sccm and a substrate location of z
=-4 cm. An aluminum mask was used.

6.3.3 Mask selectivity:
Diamond etching selectivity refers to the ratio between the diamond etch rate compared
to the mask material etch rate. A material with high selectivity is needed for masking diamond.
For this investigation of mask selectivity, five different mask materials were chosen including
gold (Au), aluminum (Al), titanium (Ti), silicon dioxide (SiO2) and silicon nitride (Si3N4). The
2

mask layer is deposited and patterned on a square 1.5 x 1.5 cm NCD substrate with diamond

166

thickness ~2-4 μm deposited on silicon wafers using the microwave plasma-assisted CVD
diamond system at Michigan State University [Tran, 2007].

6.3.3.1 Patterning techniques:
This section describes the patterning techniques used for five different mask materials
prior to the diamond etching.
Equipment

Substrate Temp. (C)

Thickness (nm)

Gold

PVD_E beam evaporation

25

~ 300

Aluminum

PVD_DC sputtering

25

~ 300

Titanium

PVD_DC sputtering

25

~ 1000

SiO 2

PECVD_low rate

300

~ 2000

Si3 N 4

PECVD

300

~ 1200

Table 6.1: Metallization techniques

The mask materials were deposited on diamond using equipment in the clean room as
described earlier in Chapter 3. Table 6.1 shows the specific techniques and the typical film
thicknesses deposited on the diamond surface. After the mask material film is deposited on
diamond samples, the next step is a lithography process to pattern the diamond samples. A
167

positive photoresist (PR), Shipley 1813, is used to transfer the pattern the sample using a
photolithography mask. First, the 1813 PR is spun on the substrate at 3000 rpm for a time of 30
second to achieve a PR thickness of ~1.6 μm. The sample is then soft-baked on a hot plate for 60
sec at 115 C degree. The next step exposes the sample to UV light using a contact mask aligner
(Karl Suss MJB3 model) for 120 sec. Next the sample is developed using a MF-319 developer
for 60 sec. For the lift off process (gold and aluminum), after the exposure step the side wall
profile of the photoresist is sloping. This makes it difficult to strip the metal away during the lift
off process. In order to make the metal lift off easier, the sample is dipped in a cholorobenzene
solution for 60 sec and dried with nitrogen gas before being developed. This step causes the top
layer of the photoresist to form an overhang profile of the photoresist side wall. This step helps
the metal layer lift off easier [www].

The three other mask materials included titanium, silicon dioxide and silicon nitride.
Patterns are formed in these materials with the same lithography procedure described above. A
hard bake step using the hot plate at 120 C degree for 10 min before etching is done. For these
three materials direct etching is done, instead of using a liff-off process as used for Al and Au.
The silicon dioxide is wet etched with buffered oxide etch (BOE) and the titanium with an HF
solution ( H 2 O : H 2 O2 : HF  20 : 1 : 1 ) [Will, 2003]. Two mask patterns used for the diamond
etching studies are shown in Fig. 6. 12.

Figure 6.12.a shows a narrow pattern mask with the chevron lines ranging from 1 to 5 μm
in width and the etched trenches between them being equal in spacing. Figure 6.12 b shows the
168

wide pattern mask with serpentine lines. The etch trenches between the lines are 20 μm width
and the lines width are 5 μm. So the lithography pattern feature sizes range from 1 to 20 μm.

30 μm

30 μm

(a) Narrow mask

(b) Wide mask

Figure 6. 12: The hard mask patterns
The five mask materials patterned on NCD diamond samples are shown in Figs. 6.13 through
6.17.

169

NCD

Al mask

Surface

20 μm

Figure 6.13: Aluminum mask on NCD sample (SEM image).

Gold
mask

NCD
Surface

500 nm

Figure 6.14: Gold mask on NCD sample (SEM image).

170

Ti mask

NCD
Surface

20 μm

Figure 6.15: Ti mask on NCD sample (SEM image).

NCD

SiO 2

Surface

mask

2 μm

Figure 6.16: SiO 2 mask on NCD sample (SEM image).

171

Si3 N 4
mask

NCD
Film
2 μm

Figure 6.17: Si3 N 4 mask on NCD sample (SEM image).

6.3.3.2 Effect of SF6 on mask selectivity
Due to the micro-masking effect, whiskers often appear on the diamond surface after
etching (with or without masking material) in pure oxygen plasma etching as described in section
6.3.4. The SF6 gas is needed in the gas mixture in order to produce a smoother etched diamond
surface. There are two factors that affect the selectivity, i.e. the diamond etch rate and the etch
rate of the mask material. The addition of SF6 to the etching process can change both the
diamond etch rate and the mask material etch rate resulting in changes in the selectivity.

6.3.3.3 Selectivity results

172

The selectivity is determined for the various mask materials and for the etching plasma
operating with and without SF6 . In the first set of experiments, the diamond samples are etched
with 2 sccm SF6 added into the argon/oxygen plasma and in the second set of experiments, the
diamond samples are etched with an argon/oxygen plasma only. The experiments are performed
as shown in Fig. 6.18 where the cross-section of the pre-etch and post-etch samples a measured
to determine the selectivity.

D
Mask

A

E
B

C

F

Diamond

G
Si

Si

(a) Pre- Etch

(b) Post- Etch

Figure 6.18: Dimensions used for Dektak and SEM to calculate the etch selectivity. Left figure is
pre-etch cross-section and right figure is the post-etch cross-section.

The selectivity S1 is determined from Dektak with dimensions as defined in Fig. 6.18 as

S1 

C
A  B  C 

where

173

[6.3]

A: pre-etch mask thickness
B: post-etch step height
C: depth etched into the diamond
D: depth etched into the mask
E: post etch mask thickness
F: initial diamond thickness
G: the final diamond thickness

The second method to calculate selectivity S 2 is from SEM picture using dimensions as shown
in Fig. 6.19

S 2

C
A  E 

We compared the two methods and the results are repeatable at ± 20%.

174

[6.4]

Mask
E
C
UNCD

F

G
2 μm

Si

Figure 6.19: Example of SEM method used to measure the etch selectivity. The plasma etching
condition included a pressure of 4 mTorr, a microwave power of 700 W, -125 V substrate bias, a
constant gas mixture of Ar : O2 : SF6 = 6:20:2 sccm and a substrate location of z =-4 cm.

First we need to determine if there are any different selectivity results between the narrow
and wide etch trenches. Both Dektak and SEM methods were used to calculate the selectivity for
comparison purposes.

175

Dektak
Mask material and mask pattern

Narrow

SEM

Wide

Narrow

Wide

SiO2

4.5

2.1

4.6

3.2

Si3N4

5.7

4.5

4.0

4.0

Table 6.2: Mask selectivity comparison between narrow and wide pattern mask using both
Dektak and SEM measurement methods. The plasma etching condition included a pressure of 4
mTorr, a microwave power of 700 W, -125 V substrate bias, a constant gas mixture of

Ar : O2 : SF6 = 6:20:2 sccm and a substrate location of z =-4 cm.

Mask material

Selectivity
SF6 ( 2 sccm)

No SF6

Al

35

56

Au

11

48

Ti

1

12

SiO2

5

8

Si3N4

5

7

Table 6.3: Etch selectivity of five mask materials measuring using the Dektak profilometer. The
plasma etching condition included a pressure of 4 mTorr, a microwave power of 700 W, -125 V
substrate bias, a constant gas mixture of Ar : O2 : SF6 = 6:20:0-2 sccm and a substrate location
of z =-4 cm.

176

The results in Table 6.2 show that for the same masking material and etching condition,
the selectivity of the wide mask pattern is slightly less than the selectivity of the narrow mask
pattern. It is also be seen that both Dektak profilometer and SEM measurement results are not
significantly different in terms of the selectivity value measured.

The selectivity results for all five materials are shown in Table 6.3. For this table, a third
masking pattern with 4 μm wide non-etched diamond lines separated by 4 μm wide trenches
(etched lines) was used as shown in Fig. 6.20.

30 μm

Figure 6.20: Mask pattern transferred used for all mask materials to determine the selectivity
(Optical image_500X).

177

Mask material

SF6 (sccm)

Diamond Etch
rates (nm/min)

Al

120
32

0

114
41

0

74

2

123

0

96

2

Si3N4

0

2
SiO2

121

2
Ti

189

2
Au

0

113

Table 6.4: Comparison of NCD etching rates with and without SF6 for different mask materials.
The plasma etching condition included a pressure of 4 mTorr, a microwave power of 700 W, 125 V substrate bias, a constant gas mixture of Ar : O2 : SF6 = 6:20:0-2 sccm and a substrate
location of z =-4 cm.

It can be seen that the highest mask selectivity is 56 for an Al mask and the lowest mask
selectivity is 1 for a Ti mask. The SF6 gas also affected the mask selectivity. It can be seen that
etching diamond with SF6 degrades the selectivity for all masking materials. From Table 6.2, the

178

mask selectivity is higher without SF6 compared with adding 2 sccm SF6 . So by adding

SF6 into the argon/oxygen gas mixture to get rid of the whiskers, the mask selectivity decreases.

It is found that the change of etch rates caused by SF6 depends on mask materials as shown in
Table 6.4. The explanation for that contrast is the forming of fluorine compounds with the mask
material; for example AlF3 if using aluminum mask [Dors, 1995]. If the fluorine compound
formed is nonvolatile, it acts like a micro-mask on the diamond surface so the diamond etching
rate is decreased. In contrast, if the fluorine compound is volatile, the diamond etch rates is
increased as shown in Table 6.4 for SiO 2 and Si3 N 4 .

So etching without SF6 improves the selectivity of the hard mask but produces a
roughness because of the whiskers that are formed randomly on the diamond etched surface.

6.3.3.4 Effect of DC bias on the selectivity
One of the important variables determining the selectivity is the substrate RF induced DC
bias. In order to investigate the DC bias effect on the mask selectivity, five samples of NCD
were prepared. An aluminum mask with a thickness of ~300 nm was deposited on the NCD
samples with a size of 1.5 x 1.5 cm using the e beam evaporation method and then the samples
were patterned. The etching recipe is keep the same with a power of 700 W, a pressure of 4
mTorr and a gas mixture of Ar : O2 : SF6  6 : 20 : 2 sccm. The substrate bias was varied from
179

0 to -200 V. The ECR operation mode was used for this etching experiment. The Dektak method
was used to determine the selectivity. The selectivity varied with the DC bias as shown in Fig.
6.21.

Figure 6.21: The etch selectivity versus the negative induced DC substrate bias. The plasma
etching condition included a pressure of 4 mTorr, a microwave power of 700 W, 0 to -200 V
substrate bias, a gas mixture of Ar : O2 : SF6 = 6:20:0-2 sccm and a substrate location of z =-4
cm. An aluminum mask was used.
180

A more negative bias applied caused the mask selectivity to decrease. From section
6.3.1b the diamond etches rate increases when the negative bias increases. However, the mask
(aluminum) etch rate increased more as compared with diamond etch rate. One of the possible
explanations is that the increase of oxygen ions energy may retards the heterogeneous
recombination of [F] atoms or reacts with aluminum fluoride ( AlF3 ) to liberate more fluorine
atoms. So the [F] atoms increased will effect on the aluminum etch rate. The [F] ions energy
increased when bias increased were also affected on the mask (Al) etch rate. Thus the selectivity
is decreased when the negative DC bias increased.

6.3.4 Surface morphology

When etching NCD and MCD diamond with SF6 in the feed gas, there are many
whiskers appearing on the surface etched as shown in Fig. 6.22 b and d. The formation
mechanism of whiskers when etching diamond with oxygen plasma is still unclear. They can be
produced from micro-masking effects by the deposition of hard to etch materials onto the surface
[Dors, 1995].
The typical spire like shape of whiskers on NCD surface after being etched 20 minute is
shown in Fig. 6.23. The base diameter of spires is from 300 to 500 nm and the height is from
200 to 1,200 nm.

181

5 μm

5 μm

(a)

(b)

Original NCD surface

Etched NCD surface

5 μm

5 μm

(c)

(d)

Original MCD surface

Etched MCD surface

Figure 6.22: NCD and MCD etched surfaces. The plasma etching condition included a pressure
of 4 mTorr, a microwave power of 700 W, -125 V substrate bias, a constant gas mixture of

Ar : O2 : SF6 = 6:20:0 sccm and a substrate location of z =-4 cm.

182

1 μm

Figure 6.23: SEM image of the spire like shape of whiskers (UNCD etched surface without SF6)
The plasma etching condition included a pressure of 4 mTorr, a microwave power of 700 W, 125 V substrate bias, a gas mixture of Ar : O2 : SF6 = 6:20:0-2 sccm and a substrate location of z
=-4 cm.

5 μm

5 μm

(a) Gold mask

(b) Ti mask

183

2 μm

2 μm

(d) SiO 2 mask

(c) Si3 N 4 mask

2 μm

(e) Al mask
Figure 6.24: Comparison of whiskers formed on NCD diamond etched surfaces using different
mask materials. The plasma etching condition included a pressure of 4 mTorr, a microwave
power of 700 W, -125 V substrate bias, a gas mixture of Ar : O2 : SF6 = 6:20:0 sccm and a
substrate location of z =-4 cm.

The density of whiskers on the diamond etched surface is affected by the mask material
as shown in Fig. 6.24. It can be seen that for the gold mask, the density of whiskers that appear
on the etch surface is less than with other mask materials.
184

100 nm

Figure 6.25: SCD surface etched without SF6 _Al mask.
For etching of single crystal diamond without SF6 , the formation of whiskers on the
surface etched also occurs as shown in Fig. 6.25.

Original surface
Original surface

Etched surface

Etched surface
Etched surface

2 μm

2 μm

(a) NCD

(b) MCD
185

5 µm

(c) SCD
Figure 6.26: SEM image of the NCD and MCD etched surface with SF6 added in the oxygen
gas mixture. The plasma etching condition included a pressure of 4 mTorr, a microwave power
of 700 W, -125 V substrate bias, a constant gas mixture of Ar : O2 : SF6 = 6:20:2 sccm and a
substrate location of z =-4 cm.

The addition of a small amount of SF6 (2-3 sccm) in the oxygen plasma reduces or
eliminates the formation of whiskers as shown in Fig. 6.26 a, b and c. The role of SF6 gas in the
mixture is to remove the micro masking formed on the etched surface.

Another phenomenon observed are random pits appearing on the SCD diamond etched
surface as shown in Fig. 6.26 c. The distribution of these pits is not uniform and the density is
8

2

range from 2- 7.6 x 10 pits/cm . These pits have been attributed to residual defects (mainly
from dislocations) of SCD [Bern, 2004].
186

6.3.5 Surface roughness
Typically, the nature of plasma etching is using energetic ions to strike on the substrate.
For the etching process, the physical sputtering is expected to make a rough surface after etching
as shown in Fig. 6.27.

1 μm

Figure 6.27: MCD etched surface (SEM image). The plasma etching condition included a
pressure of 4 mTorr, a microwave power of 700 W, -125 V substrate bias, a gas mixture of

Ar : O2 : SF6 = 6:20:2 sccm and substrate location of z =-4 cm.

187

2 μm

2 μm

(a)

(b)

Figure 6.28: Comparison between SCD pre-etch and etched surface (AFM image)

(a) Pre-etch surface, average surface roughness

Ra = 2.64 nm

(b) Etched surface,

Ra = 18.39 nm

average surface roughness

The plasma etching condition included a pressure of 4 mTorr, a microwave power of 700 W, 125 V substrate bias, a gas mixture of Ar : O2 : SF6 = 6:20:2 sccm and a substrate location of z
=-4 cm.
Figure 6.28 shows the surface roughness Ra of SCD after etching is increase (about 16 nm as
compared with the pre-etch surface).

In order to investigate the input variables affect on to the surface roughness, a series of
five experiments are performed on NCD samples (1.5 x 1.5 cm squares and approximate NCD

188

thickness of 4 μm). All five samples were processed with the same patterned as the mask
material. The etching process input variables were changed as shown in Fig. 6.5.
Power (W)

Pressure

Oxygen

(mT)

Exp./Input

(sccm)

SF6 (sccm)

DC Bias (V)

01

300

4

20

2

-185

02

500

6

18

4

-170

03

700

8

16

6

-162

04

900

4

20

2

-125

05

700

4

20

2

-125

Table 6.5: The series of experiment input variables

The output results including roughness and diamond etch rate are shown in Table 6.6. It
can be seen that the surface roughness is improved with certain input variables as shown in Table
6.6. The smoothness improved about 13% at a removal rate of 1.36 μm/ hr was achieved with
etching condition as follows: a power of 700 W, a substrate bias of -162 V, a pressure of 8
mTorr and a gas flow rate of Ar: O 2 : SF6 = 6:16:6 sccm.

189

Original

Etched

Ra (nm)
01

3.18

02

Rate (μm/hr)

Ra (nm)

Exp.Output

Ra (nm)

Roughness

4.17

0.99

Increase

3.333

4.65

4.36

-0.29

Decrease

1.59

03

5.84

5.08

-0.76

Decrease

1.36

04

5.99

7.67

1.68

Increase

10.04

05

3.19

3.97

0.78

Increase

7.29

Table 6.6: The etched surface smoothness results.

6.3.6 The radial uniformity
The radial uniformity of diamond etching is an important factor for micro-fabrication
plasma processing. The uniformity of radial etching is affected by the plasma density uniformity
distribution in the process chamber. The plasma shape for both ECR and non-ECR plasma were
observed and discussed in Chapter 5. The radial etching uniformity for NCD using an ECR
plasma shows in Fig. 6.29. It can be seen in the ECR plasma case, the etching rate have a high
peak at a radius of 1 inch. The lowest etch rate is at the edge (at a radius of 3 inches). The
uniformity for the ECR plasma used for diamond etching is around ± 6%.

190

Figure 6.29: The radial etching uniformity of diamond. The plasma etching condition included a
pressure of 4 mTorr, a microwave power of 700 W, -125 V substrate bias, a constant gas mixture
of Ar : O2 : SF6 = 6:20:2 sccm and a substrate location of z =-4 cm. An aluminum mask was
used.

By using the data of charge density and electron temperature for argon plasma as reported
in Chapter 5 and using the empirical etching model as described above, an approximate of etch
rate versus pressures for both magnet and non-magnet plasma operation modes as shown in Fig.
6.30.

191

Figure 6.30: The etch rate versus pressures model
Figure 6.31 shows the comparison between the theoretical model and experimental results for
diamond etching rate versus pressures (ECR operation regime). The trend of both curves which
the etch rates increase with pressures increased is very similar. The theoretical etching model
plot will match with the experimental result which Yi (the yield of CO molecules desorbed per
ion incident on a fully covered surface) is ~1.05.

192

Figure 6.31: Comparison the etch rate versus pressures between theoretical model and
experimental results. The plasma etching condition included a pressure of 4-45 mTorr, a
microwave power of 700 W, -125 V substrate bias, a constant gas mixture of Ar : O2 : SF6 =
6:20:2 sccm and a substrate location of z =-4 cm. An aluminum mask was used.

193

6.4 Summary
Experiments have been performed to develop a diamond etching process for
microstructure fabrication and to characterize the Lambda microwave plasma assisted etching
system. Key etching results include:

- An anisotropic diamond plasma-assisted process has been developed that has nominal operating
input parameters consisting of a pressure of 4 mTorr, a microwave power of 700 W, -125 V
substrate bias, a constant gas mixture of Ar : O2 : SF6 = 6:20:2 sccm and a substrate location of z
=-4 cm. This etching condition gives a etch rate of 6-10 µm/hr, a selectivity for an aluminum
hard mask of 35, an anisotropic etching angle of 82 degree and an etch surface free of diamond
whiskers or spires. This etch condition is compromise set of input settings for the plasmaassisted etching process that gives a good etch rate, high anisotropic etch profile, high selectivity
and smooth post etching surface. Other observations from this etching process study include
- The etch rates increase with pressure and RF bias increases.
- The etch rates vary with the gas flow rates. The etch rates increase with oxygen flow rate
increases but decreased with the SF6 and Ar flow rate increases.
- The anisotropic angle decreases with the pressure increases.
- The highest mask selectivity is obtained with an Al mask (56) and the lowest mask selectivity
is with a Ti mask (1).
- The mask selectivity decreases with the addition of SF6 into the oxygen gas mixture.

194

- The whiskers density formed on the etched surface with gold as the mask material is less
compared with other mask materials.

- The addition of a small amount of SF6 (2-3 sccm) in the oxygen based plasma helps reduce or
eliminate the formation of whiskers on the etched diamond surface.
- The non-ECR plasma produces a higher etch rate than the ECR plasma at the same etching
condition.
- The radial etch uniformity varies over a diameter of 6 inches around ± 6% for a pressure of 4
mTorr, a microwave power of 700 W, -125 V substrate bias, a constant gas mixture of

Ar : O2 : SF6 = 6:20:2 sccm and a substrate location of z =-4 cm.
8

2

- The etch pits on the SCD etched surface have a density that ranges from 2- 7.6 x 10 pits/cm .

195

CHAPTER 7
DIAMOND SMOOTHING

7.1 Introduction:
Microcrystalline diamond (MCD) films are used for many applications like coating tools,
diaphragm coating, heat sink, SAW filters, X-ray windows or other advanced devices [Chun,
2001]. Due to the columnar growth nature of MCD, the diamond surface is very rough,
especially for thick diamond films [Grae, 1992]. Surface reflection for optical windows, non
reproducible electrical contact, and insufficient thermal contact are some limitations for nonsmooth MCD surface. Polishing of diamond is a difficult task since it is the hardest material and
inert to most chemical substances. Polishing or planarization techniques are needed to smooth
the MCD surface roughness to a specific requirement for various applications at a low cost.

The traditional mechanical lapping to smooth MCD diamond films is a well-known
method in the industry but very challenging due to extremely slow diamond removal rates [Mals,
1999]. Therefore this method is not cost effective and it is time consuming. Several polishing
technologies have been reported in literature for reducing the surface roughness of MCD
diamond films. Those techniques include chemical mechanical polishing [Gril,2000], chemical
polishing [John, 1994], thermal chemical polishing [Yosh, 1990], laser polishing [Ozka, 1997]
and ECR air plasma etching [Herm, 1996]. Choosing a proper polishing technique for diamond
smoothing is an important task that needs to be based on the application requirement and

196

economic constraints. In this chapter, techniques discussed in the research literature to smooth
diamond surface are reviewed. Next methods to polish the microcrystalline film using plasma
etching combined with mechanical polishing and planarization are developed. Finally, the results
of diamond polishing using these techniques are reported.

7.2 Diamond smoothing mechanisms overview
This section describes the basic mechanisms of various diamond smoothing techniques.
There are different ways to reduce the surface roughness of microcrystalline diamond films. The
diamond smoothing techniques are: 1) Micro-chipping; 2) Phase transformation of diamond to
graphite combined

with

micro-chipping method;

3) Atomic diffusion

method;

4)

Evaporating/Ablating; 5) Sputtering/etching; and 6) Chemical reactions [Mals, 1999].
The temperature factor is the critical condition for most of the diamond smoothing techniques
except for the micro-chipping mechanism.

7.2.1 Micro-chipping:
This method uses the friction force between two moving surfaces in contact and its rate
depends on the rotation speed and pressure for diamond smoothing. When the friction force is
higher than the atomic binding energy of diamond, the carbon atoms on the surface layer are
deformed or chipped away depending on the brittleness of the material [Bhus, 1991]. The
removal rates depend on the friction force and in general soft materials are removed faster than
hard materials. In diamond polishing, the micro-chipping process is used in mechanical
197

lapping/polishing. The roughness and removal rate are related to the size of the abrasive powder
used. The coarse powders are used for lapping and the fine powders are used for polishing. In
micro-chipping processes, the contact area increases with lapping/polishing time. Consequently,
the shear force per unit contact area decreases and the material removal rate decreases. So, in
order to maintain a constant removal rate, the contact force must be increased as a function of
time to accommodate the increase in contact area. This mechanism occurs in mechanical and
chemo-mechanical polishing techniques.

7.2.2 Phase transformation of diamond to graphite or non-diamond carbon, and then removed by
micro-chipping:
Graphite is one of the four allotropes of carbon including graphite, diamond, amorphous
and lonsdaleite [Spea, 1989]. Graphite is the only one in the group that has a stable structure
under atmospheric conditions. Other lattice structures are metastable. The two most well know
allotropes are graphite and diamond. The graphite lattice is formed from trigonally bonded
sp 2 hybridized carbon atoms and diamond lattice is formed from tetrahedrally bonded
sp 3 carbon atoms. In diamond, the four equivalent sp 3 bonds form strong bonds that are very

hard to remove. Graphite, on the other hand, has a weak bonding between the planes that are
bonded by Van der Waals forces, and hence it is removed easier by mechanical polishing. Due to
the diamond lattice structure being metastable, it can be transformed into graphite if enough
activation energy for phase transformation is supplied [Mals, 1999]. When diamond is in contact
with some catalytic materials such as iron, cobalt and nickel at 750 0 C , it starts changing its
lattice structure and transforms into graphite or other non-diamond carbon [Pier, 1993].
198

Hence the parts of the diamond crystal that come into contact with a catalytic material are
changed to graphite and then the graphite can be easily removed by mechanical polishing
because of weaker of binding forces. The process can be repeated until the surface is smooth.
This mechanism plays a significant role in some polishing techniques such as thermal chemical
polishing and dynamic friction polishing.

7.2.3 Diffusing carbon atoms into soluble metals:
Some soluble metals such as iron (Fe), nickel (Ni), manganese (Mn) and rare earth alloys
(molybdenum, cerium and lanthanum) can react with any source of free carbon and absorb it into
their surface. Such a reaction is easily triggered under certain temperature and pressure
conditions occurring in the mechanical lapping/polishing process. When a diamond surface
comes into contact with a metal disk at a temperature from 730- 1000 0 C, carbon atoms in
diamond diffuse into the metal disk until it is saturated [Hark, 1990] [Rame, 1997]. This process
is called the metal hot plate polishing process. The diffusion rate of carbon atoms from
protruding regions of the carbon substrate is greater than other regions due to a shorter diffusion
path. Thus after polishing by this technique, the protruding regions of the diamond will be
removed and the diamond surface ends up smoother. The carbon concentration of a soluble metal
in contact with diamond depends on the distance from the interface, the diffusion coefficient and
is given as following [Mals, 1999]:


 x 
C (x) = C1 erfc

 2 Dt 


[7.1]

199

where C(x) is the concentration at x; C1 is the interface concentration; erfc is the error function; x
is the distance from the interface; D is the diffusion coefficient; and t is time. This means when
the carbon diffusion coefficient and the carbon solubility of the mating material increases, the
removal rate increases. A thin piece of metal accommodates less carbon atoms than a thick piece,
so a thin piece is saturated more quickly.

A hydrogen atmosphere can also be used in the metal hot plate polishing diamond
method. With hydrogen present in the process the carbon atoms that diffuse into the metal
surface react with hydrogen forming methane gas, which is carried away. The metal will not
saturate with carbon atoms in this case and the removal rate is higher. The diamond removal rate
with a hot metal plate contact method is also higher in vacuum than in hydrogen atmosphere.
Because in the vacuum, the diamond film contacts closely with an iron plate and the carbon can
diffuse rapidly [Toku, 1992].

7.2.4 Evaporation/Ablating:
If effective heat sources like torches, electric arcs or lasers are applied to the protruding
crystal on the surface of diamond film, they will evaporate to produce a smooth surface. For
example a laser beam is a suitable source for evaporating diamond film because it‘s a high
density heat source that can be easily controlled. The short energy pulse generated by laser
beams creates a localized heat region and the heat does not spread widely to the other parts of the
diamond substrate. By adjusting the incident angle of the laser light to focus the energy into the
protruding portions of the diamond substrate, it will generate a flatter surface [Tosi, 1995].
200

7.2.5 Sputtering:
Diamond can be removed using a sputtering process in which highly energetic ions
collide with diamond on the surface and break its bonds. The carbon atoms are detached from the
diamond surface. The ion source must be stable and a uniform density of the ion beam is needed
to produce a good finish. The sputtering rate can be controlled by changing the ion energies and
densities. The sputtering rate also depends on the amount of graphite contained in diamond
sample. If there is more graphite in MCD diamond, the sputtering rate is higher, since the
sputtering rate of graphite is higher than diamond [Bach, 1993].

7.2.6 Chemical reaction:
Diamond is extremely chemical inert and it does not reacted with any acids except at high
temperature at which the acids can act as oxidizers to diamond. Two oxidizing reagents: KOH
and KNO3 will react and etch diamond at elevated temperatures. The temperatures should be
slightly above the melting temperatures of potassium hydroxide (KOH) and potassium nitrate
( KNO3 ), which are 360 o C and 324 o C respectively [Olli, 1999]. The heat energy decomposes
the liquid into oxygen and other constituents near the diamond surface. The oxygen generated
reacts with the diamond on the surface and forms the volatile gases CO and CO 2 . This reaction
is used in chemo-mechanical polishing. In other reactions, diamond will be oxygenated before
graphitized in contact with oxy-acid such as H 3PO4 and NaNO3 .

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Diamond can react with elemental metals such as tungsten, tantalum, titanium and
zirconium to form carbides, hence they can act as solvents. Diamond can also be etched when it
is exposed to a reactive atmosphere, such as oxygen or hydrogen at elevated temperatures.
Carbons atoms in diamond are converted into CO x or CH x gas. These chemical reactions are
involved in most polishing techniques such as thermal chemical polishing, chemo-mechanical
polishing and dynamic friction polishing.

7.2.7 Summary:
This section summarizes the diamond smoothing mechanisms. Each diamond polishing
technique involves one or more different diamond smoothing mechanisms. Diamond can be
polished directly (path 1) or indirectly through two or more steps (path 2-5) by using different
polishing mechanism as shown in Fig. 7.1.

Figure 7.1: Diamond polishing mechanism diagram
202



Path 1 Fig. 7.1 shows diamond polishing directly via micro-chipping by mechanical,
evaporation, ion beam or laser polishing.



Path 2 in Fig. 7.1 shows diamond can be polished indirectly by converted it into graphite
under high temperature and pressure without contact with soluble metals, and then
removed from the surface by micro-chipping, or chemical reactions with gas to form

COx , carbides or CH x . The graphite is also removed by atomic diffusion into metal.


Path 3 shows diamond can have a surface reaction with different reactive gases such as
oxygen or hydrogen to form COx or CH x , respectively. In thermal chemical or dynamic
friction polishing method, the reactive gas like oxygen or hydrogen acts as an agent,
removing the graphite formed on the polished diamond surface. The oxygen gas can also
oxidize a metal such as iron to form iron oxide ( Fe2O3 ).This oxide will react with
carbon to form a volatile COx gas, reducing the carbon level in a metal disk. The metal
will then have more room to absorb the carbon from the diamond surface.



Path 4 shows that carbon atoms from protruding regions of a diamond surface in contact
with a soluble metal surface can be diffused into that metal surface under certain
temperatures and pressure. Some oxidizing agents such as potassium nitrate ( KNO 3 ) or
potassium hydroxide (KOH) can etch diamond at lower temperatures through a oxidation
process.



Diamond can also be smooth directly using a RIE plasma or ion beam etching technique
by combining the etching technique with a sacrificial layer such as gold (Au), photo
resist, silicon nitride ( Si3O4 ) or silicon dioxide ( SiO 2 ). A sacrificial layer covers the
diamond surface except for the protrude portions. Then the diamond exposed parts are

203

removed by plasma etching. The process can be repeated multiple times until the surface
is smooth. This method can also be combined with mechanical polishing for a smoother
surface result ( Ra less than 100 nm). Compared to other methods, this method has good
potential for practical application, especially for thick MCD diamond films which have
very rough surfaces.

7.3 Techniques used to polish diamond film:
7.3.1 Mechanical polishing:
The traditional mechanical lapping has been used to smooth diamond surfaces for a long
time. Detail of this method can be found in the literature [Fiel, 2001] [Hird, 2002].

This method involves simple abrasion of rough diamond surfaces using a suitable
abrasive like diamond powder. The lapping proceeds by grinding the diamond sample on a cast
iron rotating wheel (called a scaife) rotating at a high speed. The abrasive is in the form of slurry
of powder and liquid. Diamond powder is mixed with olive oil, ethylene glycol or some other
base to form a paste or suspension which is rubbed over the metal scaife and then left for some
time for the suspension to be absorbed by the pores. The surface of diamond to be polished is
placed against the scaife typically about 300 mm diameter rotating at 2500 rpm under a load of
the order of 1 kg. A contact pressure of 2.5-6.5 MPa applied for diamond lapping and 2.5 MPa
applied for polishing process are recommended by Ralchenko [Ralc, 1998].The final surface
finish is controlled by the size of the abrasive powder used. A coarse powder up to 50 μm is used
in the initial stage of polishing, which allows for faster material removal rate. A sequence of
204

polishing steps with smaller diamond particle sizes can be used to obtain the desired smoothing
surface. When the diamond particle size decreases, the removal rate is also decreased.
Mechanical polishing is usually used for polishing single crystal diamond. For MCD, the
mechanical polishing method works a slower removal rate because of the randomness of crystal
orientations. The removal rates for the (100), (110) and (111) planes are in the ratio 0.6:1:0.1 (the
wheel speed is 2932 rpm and load is 2015 g) [Wilk, 1991]. A schematic of mechanical lapping
system is shown in Figure 7.2. Polishing rates depend on the type of abrasive used, the rotating
wheel speed and the crystal orientation being polished [Hick, 1991]. This traditional diamond
smoothing method is often not cost effective due to the polishing rate for MCD being slow.

Figure 7.2: Mechanical polishing schematic

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From the literature, there are three wear mechanisms of mechanical polishing [Grill,
1997]:
1) Chemical wear: The transformation of diamond to graphite or other non diamond carbon
on the surface of the diamond while it is being polished. And then the material is
detached from the surface because of the weaker bonding structure of graphite.
2) Thermal wear: Burning or carbonization takes place because of the temperature rise at
individual hot spots due to friction force. The high temperature modifies the mechanical
properties of the diamond enhancing the mechanical component of wear.
3) Electrical wear: An attractive force due to tribo-charging has been observed for diamond
sliding on a rotating surface of amorphous carbon. Although sparking may occur during
polishing, it is believed not to cause material removal [Gril, 1995].

Experimental data of mechanical polishing of MCD diamond is shown in Fig. 7.3. It took
60 hours to reduce the surface roughness from 1700 nm to ~150 nm.

206

Figure 7.3: Experimental mechanical polishing [Loew, 2009]. The five data sets (#1, #2,
#3, #4 and center) are different locations on a 1 inch diameter MCD film polished on a
Logitech polisher

7.3.2 Thermal–Chemical (Hot-Metal plate) polishing:
Thermal chemical polishing is based on the atomic dissolution of carbon into a hot metal
plate. The soluble metal plate (made of iron or low carbon steel (0.2% C or lower), nickel,
manganese, molybdenum, etc.) is heated to 950 C and abrades against the diamond film in the
207

presence of an argon or hydrogen atmosphere [Toku, 1991]. The plate surface is smoothed to an
approximated roughness of 2 μm using a grinding technique. The scaife is usually loaded with a
weigh to create a pressure of 20 kPa. A schematic of thermal polishing of diamond is shown in
Figure 7.4 [Mcco, 1994). The diffusion of carbon from a diamond surface into metal results in
the formation of a carbide layer on the surface which is removed easily using HCl acid.

Figure 7.4: Thermal polishing of diamond schematic [Mcco, 1994].

The polishing rate depends on the diffusion of carbon atoms from the diamond surface
into the hot metal plate. The thermal chemical polishing rate is higher in vacuum but the surface
is smoother in a hydrogen atmosphere [Mals, 1999]. The temperature of the metal hot plate is
also important for the polishing rate. The range of temperature for this technique is from 730-950

0 C [Toku, 1991]. Polishing is not very efficient at lower temperatures because of less chemical
reactivity. The diamond removal rate can be increased by controlling the temperature to be
greater than the melting point of the metal carbide and less than the melting point of the metal
itself [Tzen, 2000]. The metal carbide melts around the points of contact between the diamond
and the metal surface. This process accelerates the diffusion of the diamond into metal.

208

Therefore the diamond removal rate is increased. When the diamond surface is smooth, it is
cooled and cleaned with HCl acid to remove metal carbide residues.

7.3.3 Chemically assisted mechanical polishing (CAMP):
The CAMP technique combines mechanical polishing and oxidizing reagents such
as KOH , KNO3 , or NaNO3 to enhance the diamond removal rate. This method exploits the high
temperature oxidation property of diamond [Olli, 1999]. Diamond under an applied load, in
contact with a base plate (made of alumina or cast iron), that is rotated and covered with KNO3
is shown in Fig. 7.5 [Wang, 2006]. Diamond abrasive powder can be used to assist the
mechanical polishing process to increase the diamond removal rate. The diamond polishing rate
directly depends on the speed of the wheel and the applied load (weight).

In order to increase the removal rate and lower the operation temperature, a mix of
oxidizing agents such as potassium permanganate and sulfuric acid ( KMnO 4 + H 2 SO4 ) has
been used in the polishing process [Chen, 2005]. The advantage of this technique is it can polish
a non- planar diamond film. Moreover, the damage after CAMP polishing is much less than
mechanical polishing [Hsie, 2002].

209

Figure 7.5: The CAMP polishing schematic [Wang, 2006]

In the CAMP polishing technique, the compound effect of mechanical abrading and
oxidant plays an important role in the polishing rate. During polishing the protruding portions of
the MCD diamond surface contacts with the diamond powder on the surface of the metal disk,
which can generate micro-cracks on the diamond surface. The oxidizing chemicals enter the
micro-cracks and react with diamond to form CO 2 and CO under elevated temperature and
pressure conditions. So the carbon atoms from diamond surface are diffused into the oxidizing
agents. Therefore, a higher removal rate than conventional mechanical polishing is obtained.

7.3.4 Laser polishing:
Laser energy can be used to smooth diamond without physically contacting the diamond.
This technique is applied for the smoothing of very thin MCD diamond film which would be

210

easily broken by other techniques that apply pressure or force to the surface. This technique is
also applied on non-planar shapes or localized regions of diamond films. The diamond is
irradiated with a pulse laser at a repetition rate from 1 to 100 Hz. A schematic of laser polishing
technique is shown in Fig. 7.6.
Laser source
Laser light
To vacuum pump
Laser window
Gas inlet

Gas inlet

Substrate

Observation
Substrate holder

window

Figure 7.6: Laser polishing schematic [Bhus, 1994]

7.3.5 Dynamic friction polishing (DFP):
The DFP polishing method was developed from a thermal chemical technique [Suzu,
2003]. A MCD diamond film is polished at a predetermined pressure by a metal disk without
abrasive powder. The metal disk is rotated at a high speed in the atmosphere. This polishing
method generates dynamic friction between diamond and the high speed metal disk. The DFP
polishing method also enables a highly efficient thermal chemical reaction induced to smooth
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diamond surface. A schematic of the dynamic friction polishing system is shown in Fig. 7.7
[Iwai, 2004].

Figure 7.7: Schematic of dynamic friction polishing [Iwai, 2004].

7.3.6 Electrical discharge machining (EDM)
Electrical discharge machining (EDM) is a polishing method using the thermal energy
produced by a pulse spark discharge to erode the MCD diamond surface. A spark discharge
generates a high energy density at high temperature that can melt and evaporate a local region of
the diamond film. The gap between the electrode and diamond work piece is filled with a
dielectric fluid, typically either deionizer water or hydrocarbon oil. This confines the effect of the
spark discharge to a small area, dissipates heat from the eroded surface and flushes away the
debris [Olse, 2004]. For the non-conductive MCD diamond film, the film usually is coated with a
thin layer of electrically conductive material before polishing. The peaks of the MCD diamond

212

are removed quickly during the EDM process. The EDM polishing mechanisms are as follows:
explosion caused by the spark, graphitization of diamond, evaporation and oxidation of carbon
and chemical reactions to form carbides [Guo, 2002]. EDM is suitable for rough polishing with a
high polishing rate at3 μm/min. It should be combined with other polishing method to achieve a
required smooth surface if the final surface roughness is less than 1 μm. A diagram of the EDM
polishing technique is shown in Fig. 7.8

Figure 7.8: Schematic of EDM polishing [Guo, 2004].
7.4 MCD diamond planarization and polishing using a plasma etcher:
7.4.1 Introduction:
Plasma etching is a key technique for diamond post processing. Plasma etching is able to
remove diamond effectively across large areas in a controllable manner. Plasma etching also can
be used on non-planar surfaces of diamond thin films at a low processing temperature, which is
213

something other methods are not be able to achieve. Plasma etching naturally cannot reduce the
surface roughness of MCD diamond films because it removes the diamond not only on the
protruding portion of the film but also on the whole surface of diamond. So the surface
roughness overall is not improved. The important factor to plasma etching is to restrict the
etching to only the protruding portions or the peaks of diamond films. This way the diamond
film will be smoother after the polishing process. Some planarization methods using plasma
etching are reported in literature and they were reviewed in detail in Chapter 2.

This section will report the various planarization techniques developed to smooth
diamond using plasma etching combine with mechanical lapping and masking layers. The
surface roughness is characterized using a Dektak profilometer model D6M as described in
Chapter 3. The surface roughness measurements include the average roughness ( Ra ) and the ten
point height average ( R z ). The average roughness Ra is the arithmetic average deviation from
the mean line within the assessment length L and is defined by the equation [Dektak 6M Manual,
2002]:

Ra =

where L is the scan length.

1
L

L

 y dx

0

.

The R z value is defined as the difference in the height between the highest peaks and the
lowest valleys relative to the mean line.
214

Rz =

5

1 5
 Y  Y 
 pi  vi 
5
i 1 
 i 1

where Y pi is the highest peak at point i and Yvi is the lowest valleys at point i.

Most of the polishing experiments in this research are multiple step processes and the
surface roughness in each step is measured using the Dektak profilometer. The following
sections discuss three planarization techniques.

7.4.2 Photo-resist reflow method:
This planarization technique uses photoresist Shipley 1813 and silicon nitride ( Si3 N 4 ) as
a sacrificial layer to coat over the MCD diamond surface. The purpose of the layers are to control
the plasma etch to occur only on the protruding portions of the diamond film. This planarization
process is described as follows. A layer of Si3N4 film with a thickness of 1 μm is deposited on
the diamond substrate by a PECVD system. After that, a layer of photo resist, Shipley 1813, with
thickness of 1.6 μm is spun on the top of the Si3 N 4 layer. Next, the sample is heated up to
0

150 C. The photo resist is melted and it flows on the substrate. It will cover the dips or valleys
and not the exposed or the protruding regions to be etched. The Si3N4 layer that covers the MCD
diamond is etched using a SF6 plasma (gas mixture of Ar:SF6 = 10:4 sccm) for 10 min. This
etching process exposes the high tips or regions of the diamond. After that the exposed diamond

215

is etched using an ECR oxygen plasma (gas mixture of Ar:O2:SF6 = 6:20:2 sccm) for 1 hour.
The process is repeated until the surface roughness is not further improvable as shown in Fig.
7.9.

PR 1813

Si3 N 4

Si

Figure 7.9: Diagram of Photoresist Reflow Method.
(a) The original MCD diamond surface.
(b) Surface formed by depositing Si3 N 4 (~1μm thick) followed by photoresist (PR) 1813
(1.6 thick) on top of the Si3 N 4 layer. Then the PR is reflowed at 150 C degree follow by
a Si3 N 4 plasma etched.
(c) Plasma etch surface to get rid of the crystal peak of diamond.
(d) Repeat steps a through c until the MCD surface is smooth.

216

Figure 7.10 shows the optical images of photoresist reflow method processing. Figure 7.10
(a) shows the original microcrystalline diamond surface is very rough. Figure 7.10 (b) shows the
surface after being masked with Shipley 1813 photo resist on the top of Si3 N 4 and
microcrystalline diamond substrate. The sharp crystal tips of the MCD diamond are exposed and
ready to be etched. Figure 7.10 (c) shows the surface after being etched 1 hr. The figure shows
all the sharp peaks of the MCD are etched away. Figure 7.10 (d) shows the surface after it is
cleaned and ready for the next masking step. Figure 7.10 (e) shows the MCD diamond surface
after being etched 5 steps and the sharp crystal tips are almost gone. The surface is much
smoother as compared with the original surface.

30 μm

30 μm

(a)

(b)

30 μm

30 μm

(c)

(d)
217

30 μm

(e)
Figure 7.10: Smoothing microcrystalline diamond process (Optical images _500X)
(a) Original microcrystalline surface;
(b) Pre-etch surface preparation ( Si3 N 4 and photo resist Shipley 1813 masking layer on the
top of microcrystalline diamond surface)
(c) Etched surface (etching time: 1 hr)
(d) Etched surface without Si3 N 4 and photoresist (etching time: 1 hr)
(e) Etched surface without Si3 N 4 and photoresist (etching time: 5 hrs)

218

Figure 7.11: The peak height of crystals (Rz) versus etching time. C is the center location and E
is the edge position.
The average peak height of the MCD film (Rz) is reduced from 14 μm to around 1 μm as
shown in Fig. 7.11 (measured from the Dektak). The surface roughness Ra of the MCD diamond
film is also greatly improved after 5 steps as shown in Fig. 7.12. The Ra is reduced from 1.8 μm
to around 300-600 nm. The total time for this process is ~7 hrs.

219

Figure 7.12: The surface roughness (Ra) versus etching time. Ra (C) is at the center of the
sample and Ra (E) is near the edge of the sample. The sample size was 02 inches diameter.

The polishing rate is the difference between the original surface roughness Ra (original)
and the final surface roughness Ra (final) over the total time of the polishing process. The
average of the smoothing rate for the photoresist reflow method is ~170 nm/hr. The advantage of

220

this polishing method is to reduce the time consumed to smooth the surface as compared with
other methods like mechanical lapping (~10 nm/hr). A limitation of this method is the surface
roughness cannot be reduced down to the nanometer range. A different lapping/polishing method
needs to be involved after this process achieves a Ra of ~500 nm in order to get the surface
roughness smooth to a few tens of nanometer scale.

7.4.3 The plasma roughing of the surface combined with mechanical polishing method

5 μm

5 μm

(a)

(b)

Figure 7.13: The surface morphology of micro-crystalline diamond. (a) pre-etch and (b) after
etched using oxygen plasma etching (SEM images). Pressure of 4 mTorr, a microwave power of
700 W, -125 VDC induced substrate bias, and a gas mixture Ar:O2 : SF6 = 6:20:0 sccm.

The second method uses plasma etching combined with mechanical polishing to smooth
micro crystalline diamond. Fig 7.13 shows the effect of oxygen plasma etching on MCD
diamond. The grass like structure or whiskers that appear on the MCD diamond surface after
221

etching with oxygen plasma are easily removed by the mechanical polishing in this method. The
plasma roughing of surface for mechanical polishing process is shown in Fig. 7.14.

Figure 7.14: Plasma roughing of surface for mechanical polishing process.
(a) MCD original surface
(b) Plasma etch diamond
(c) Lap/polish diamond surface
(d) Repeat step a-c until the diamond surface is smooth.

The result of using plasma etching combine with mechanical polishing is shown in Fig. 7.15.
The process uses a plasma etching pre-treatment of the MCD diamond substrate for 10-15
minutes followed by lapping for 1hr. The etching and lapping processes are repeated 5 times.

222

The surface roughness Ra improves from 1048 nm to 290 nm in roughly six hours and 20
minute. So the polishing rate is about 120 nm/hr.

Figure 7.15: The surface roughness versus process steps for MCD sample KWH 35. The plasma
conditions include pressure of 4 mTorr, microwave power of 700 W, -125 V substrate bias and
gas mixture Ar : O2 : SF6 = 6:20:0 sccm.

Figure 7.16 shows the result of polishing MCD versus lapping time using the plasma
enhance mechanical polishing method for sample KWH 36 that started with a surface roughness

223

Ra of 3802 nm. The etching time for each surface pre-treatment is keep constant at 20 minutes.
The surface roughness is reduced from 3802 nm down to 53 nm in 23 hrs. So the smoothing rate
is approximately 120 nm/ hr. The plasma etching is not used for the surface roughness reduction
with Ra less than 53 nm, rather mechanical polishing only is used.

Figure 7.16: The surface roughness Ra versus lapping time for MCD sample KWH 36. The
plasma conditions include pressure of 4 mTorr, microwave power of 700 W, -125 V substrate
bias and gas mixture Ar : O2 : SF6 = 6:20:0 sccm.

224

7.4.4 Plasma-assisted etching with selectivity of one:
A. SiO 2 /Diamond:
This planarization method combines a sacrifice mask ( SiO 2 _PECVD), mechanical
lapping/polishing and plasma-assisted etching. The idea is to start by depositing SiO 2 on the
diamond surface with a PECVD system as described in Chapter 3. The deposition parameters
used include a pressure of 1000 mTorr, a power of 20 W, a gas mixture of

N 2O : SiH 4 =

710:170 sccm and 300 o C substrate temperature. Mechanical lapping is used in the next step to
planarize the surface as shown in Fig 7.18. The protruding portions of the SiO 2 sacrifice layer
will be easily removed by the mechanical lapping to produce a smooth flat surface. The key
aspect of this method is to use a recipe for the plasma etching which etches both diamond and the
sacrifice mask layer with the same etch rate, i.e a selectivity of one. This step removes the
sacrifice layer and protruding portions of diamond at the same rate. The process can be repeated
until the diamond surface roughness decreases to the desired smoothness.

A series of experiments are performed to determine the ratio of the etching rate between
SiO 2 and diamond. An oxygen plasma is key to etching diamond and an SF6 plasma is used to

etch SiO 2 . So a mixture gas of O2 / SF6 is used to get an etching selectivity of one. For the first
experiment, NCD is used because they have smooth surfaces and hence it is easy to determine
the selectivity. Sample NCD # 57 was cut into 0.5 x 0.5 inches and pre-cleaned using the RCA
cleaning process. The samples are then deposited with a layer of 2.7 μm thick SiO 2 . The SiO 2

225

was patterned and plasma etching using different feed gas mixtures. The recipe of the plasma
etching was kept the same except for SF6 gas flow which varied from 2-10 sccm.

Figure 7.17: The selectivity of NCD and SiO 2 . The plasma etching condition included a pressure
of 4 mTorr, a power of 700 W, substrate bias of -125 V, a gas mixture of Ar : O2 = 6:20 sccm,
a SF6 flow rate of 2-10 sccm and an etching time of 20 min.

Dektak measurements determined the selectivity. Figure 7.17 shows the selectivity of
NCD diamond and SiO 2 for varied flow rates of SF6 . The experiment parameters are
226

microwave power of 700 W, a substrate bias of 125 V and pressure of 4 mTorr. The results in
Fig. 7.17 show that the selectivity is 1 at a SF6 flow rate of 4 sccm. The next experiments were
done using on MCD diamond with the recipe kept the same as for NCD diamond with the
exception that the substrate bias was varied. A selectivity of 1.07 (MCD/ SiO 2 ) was achieved for
etching parameter as follows: a pressure of 4 mTorr, a microwave power of 700 W, a substrate
bias of -190 VDC and a gas mixture Ar: O 2 : SF6 of 6:20: 4 sccm.

The detailed steps for the selective of one process to smooth MCD diamond films are:

1. Fill the microcrystalline diamond surface (Fig. 7.18 a) with the SiO2 layer (spin-on-glass
(SOG) or PECVD) as shown Fig. 7.18 b. The thickness of coating layer depends on the
diamond roughness.
2. Lap for 15 min to get the surface smooth and planar as shown Fig. 7.18 c
3. Use plasma etching (1 hr) with parameters set to give a selectivity of one for SiO 2 on
diamond.
4. Repeat steps 1, 2 and 3 until the roughness of diamond surface is as smooth as possible
(Figure 7.18 d).

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Figure 7.18: The selectivity of one diamond smoothing process.

One sample used for this polishing method was sample GYJ 21. The initial measurements
of sample MCD diamond number GYJ 021 was a thickness of 252 μm, a surface roughness Ra
of 4.636 μm and an average R z of 27.377 μm. The original surface of sample GYJ 021 is very
rough as shown in Fig 7.19a. First a 30 μm layer of oxide SiO 2 was deposited using the PECVD
system as described in Chapter 2. Figure 7.19 b shows the surface of sample YJ 021 after
deposition of the SiO 2 layer. Figure 7.19 c shows the surface of sample GYJ 21after used
mechanical lapping for 15 min. The sample was then etched by the ECR plasma etcher for 1 hr
with a selectivity recipe as described in previous section. Figure 7.19 d show the surface of
sample GYJ 21 after the first cycle of plasma etching. The average surface roughness Ra after
one cycle is significant reduced from 4.861 μm down to 0.902 μm. The polishing process is
repeated five cycle steps and the final surface roughness is reduced to 140 nm as shown in Fig.
7.19 e.
228

30 μm

30 μm

(a)

(b)

30 μm

30 μm

(c)

(d)

30 μm
(e)
Figure 7.19: Optical images 500 X of polishing process by selectivity of 1 method (sample GYJ
21)
229

a.

The original MCD surface

b.

The MCD surface after deposited SiO 2 layer

c.

The surface after mechanical polishing

d.

The MCD surface after plasma etching

e.

The final result of polishing process (after five process cycles)

Figure 7.20: The surface roughness versus processing cycles.

Figure 7.20 shows the surface roughness reduced after each polishing process cycle. The total
time for this process is 25.5 hrs. The average smoothing rate for this polishing process is 185
nm/hr.
230

B. SOG/Diamond:
Spin on glass (SOG) is a type of glass that can be applied as a liquid and cured to form a layer
of glass having characteristic similar to those of SiO 2 . SOG has been used for planarization on
diamond as reported by Chakraborty [Chak, 1995]. SOG model Acculass T 512 B is used for the
experiments. The SOG coating on diamond process is as follows. The SOG is warmed up to
room temperature for 30 minutes. Then the SOG is heated up to 80 C degree for 1 minute. The
SOG is applied to the diamond sample by spin coating at 3000 rpm for 30 seconds followed by a
soft bake at 80 C degree for 1 minute. The next step is baking the sample at 150 C degree for 1
minute followed by a hard bake at 250 C for 1 minute. The last step is curing the sample using a
thermal furnace at 425 C degree for 1 hour using nitrogen gas flow.

Layers

Ra (Original)

Ra (SOG)

Rz (Original)

Rz (SOG)

(nm)

(nm)

(nm)

(nm)

03

475.9

295.7

3131.8

1886.9

05

475.17

243.06

3222.7

1659.2

07

485.22

240.7

4067.3

1385.1

Table 7.1: Multi-layers coating of SOF surface roughness on silicon (unpolished side)

231

A single layer of SOG coated on MCD diamond is very thin (less than 500 nm if applied with
a 3000 rpm spin speed) [see Acculass T512 B manual). To increase the thickness, some initial
experiments of coating multiple SOG layers was done and then examined to see if any cracking
of the surface occurred. The first series of test were performed on silicon (unpolished side). For
less than seven layers of coating, the surface roughness improved as shown in Table 7.1. Both
the surface roughness Ra and the average peak R z are reduced after being coated from three to
seven layers.

In order study the planarization of this polishing method, two layers of the SOG are coated on
a MCD diamond surface. Using the Dektak profilometer to measure the surface roughness, the
surface roughness is reduced from 53.12 nm to 12.61 nm. The plasma etch selectivity of the
SOG coating on NCD diamond also was observed. Two NCD samples with the same growth
conditions were used to determine plasma etch condition when the selectivity is one. The two
samples were coated with two layers of SOG and treated with the same process as described
above. The two samples then were etched with the same conditions except for variation the SF6
gas flow rate. The etching conditions included a power of 700 W, a pressure of 4 mTorr and a
substrate bias of -125 V. The selectivity of SOG and NCD diamond is 0.985 with the SF6 gas
flow rate at 3 sccm as shown in Table 7.2.

232

Sample

Selectivity

Ar: O 2 : SF6 (sccm)

NCD_DT01

6:20:4

0.81

NCD_DT02

6:20:3

0.985

Table 7.2: The selectivity of SOG versus SF6
The planarization using SOG method was not successful to reduce the surface roughness for
the MCD diamond film with a surface roughness Ra larger than 2 μm because the MCD surface
is rough and need a thick SOG to cover the whole surface. The multi-layers SOG coating is
limited due to the cracked SOG surface occur when process on a MCD diamond with a
roughness Ra larger than 2 µm.

7.5 Summary
- Polishing of a MCD diamond is a complicated process due to the extreme hardness of diamond
material. This chapter overviews the theory of polishing mechanisms and develops effective
plasma-assisted polishing techniques to obtain a smooth diamond surface in less time.
- Three methods of diamond smoothing are investigated including: 1) photoresist reflow method;
2) plasma roughing of surface for mechanical polishing; and 3) Etching with selectivity of one.

233

- All three polishing methods utilized the plasma-assisted etching process as a key step to
remove the protruding regions of diamond surface to reduce the surface roughness of the MCD
diamond.
- Three methods to smooth thick MCD diamond substrates were investigated using microwave
plasma etching combined with mechanical lapping/polishing and sacrificial layers.
- The method of forming a hard mask in the valleys of the MCD surface using a photoresist
reflow technique worked well for removing the larger protrusions (> 500nm) from the surface.
- The method of plasma etching with selectivity of 1 combined with mechanical
lapping/polishing of a sacrificial SiO 2 layer quickly reduced the roughness to 300 nm. This
method provides a flat surface (planar).
- The method of plasma roughening combined with mechanical polishing gave the smoothest
surface at a rate faster than mechanical polishing alone. Below a surface roughness of about 50
nm, plasma-assisted methods appear to have no strong advantage over mechanical polishing
alone.

234

CHAPTER 8
SUMMARY AND FUTURE RESEARCH

8.1 Summary of Findings
This study had the objective of developing microwave plasma-assisted etching techniques
and understanding for diamond microstructure fabrication and diamond smoothing. This study
started with characterization of both magnetized and non-magnetized discharges operating in a
microwave plasma etcher. Next etching experiments to establish the etch rate, anisotropy,
selectivity and surface roughness where performed to establish etching reactor operating
conditions. Lastly, the polishing the MCD diamond films or plates using plasma assisted etching
was studied.

8.2 Characterize the plasma-assisted etching system
The microwave plasma-assisted etcher investigated and utilized in this study was a
Lambda Technologies Inc. system. The system has a 2.45 GHz microwave powered resonant
cavity applicator for exciting a plasma discharge that is 25 cm in diameter. The system has a
movable substrate stage that is rf biased to provide ion energy control for ion-assisted etching.
Investigation of the plasma etcher included studies of its visual uniformity and its measured
plasma density versus operating conditions including applicator pressure. The plasma etcher was
operated in both an electron cyclotron resonance mode (ECR) using permanent magnets and a
non-magnetized mode.
235

8.2.1 Discharge performance
The experiments demonstrated that it is possible to sustain a magnetized and nonmagnetized discharge over a pressure range from 4 mTorr- 100 mTorr. Additionally the
magnetized discharge could easily be maintained even at a very low pressure of ~1 mTorr. Both
magnetized and non-magnetized produced a stable, repeatable and large area high density plasma
downstream (> 1012 cm  3 ) from the excitation zone. The discharge shapes was influenced by
the static magnetic field formed by the permanent magnet poles such that the plasma shaped the
ECR magnetic field structure. It had regions of strong light emission intensity as compared with
the non-magnetized discharge. Adjusting the short and probe length combination achieved
reflective power levels of ~7% of the incident power resulting in a reasonably uniform discharge.
Optimized positions for both short and probe (at a pressure of 4 mTorr, a power of 700 W and
gas flow rates at Ar: O2 : SF6 = 6:20:2 sccm) were 20.1 cm and 3 cm, respectively.

8.2.2 Plasma Diagnostic using SLP Probe
A single Langmuir probe (SLP) was used to measure the electron energy distribution function
(EEDF), discharge plasma density and electron temperature versus pressure from 4-45 mTorr for
both magnetized and non-magnetized discharges. The measurements indicated that the
magnetized discharge EEDF was approximately fit to a Maxwellian profile for a low pressure of
4 mTorr. The experimental EEDF data generally falls between the Maxwellian and Druyvesteyn
curves at higher pressures of 10, 15, 25 and 45 mTorr. The energy distribution with the high
energy electron tail depleted may be explained from the increase of electron-neutral collisions at
higher pressures. For non-magnetized EEDF measurements, the experiment data best fit the
236

Maxwellian distributions curve for pressures of 4-15 mTorr. At the higher pressures of 25 and 45
mTorr the EEDF falls between the Maxwellian and Druyvesteyn curves especially at higher
electron energies of 15 eV or more. The high energy portion of the electron tail may be depleted
as a result of inelastic collisions that deplete high energy electrons. Hence, at the lower pressures
of 4 mTorr, for both non-magnetized and magnet discharges, the EEDF best fits the Maxwellian
curve. For the magnetized discharge, more high energy tail depletion occurs at higher pressures
of 10, 15, 25 and 45 mTorr, as compared with the non-magnet discharge.

Electron density measurements were taken at the centre of the chamber (r=0) and at a
downstream position of 4 cm, over a range of pressures from 4-45 mTorr for both magnetized
and non-magnetized discharges (argon flow rate of 10 sccm). For a constant absorbed power, the
plasma density increased as pressure increased. The electron temperature decreased with
pressure increases. The non-magnetized discharge has a higher plasma charge density as
compared with the magnetized discharge

From the theory of reactive etching, a calculation based on the measured plasma discharge
data showed the diamond etch rate is in good agreement with the experimental etching process.
The theory etch rate is 6.63 μm/hr and the experimental etching is from 5-8 μm/hr at a low
pressure of 4 mTorr. The theory calculation indicates that the ion enhanced chemical etching
mechanism plays a critical factor in the diamond removal rate for the low pressure regime. The
theoretical etching rate versus pressure plot for both magnetized and non-magnetized discharge
is a good agreement with the experimental results.
237

8.3 Investigating the diamond etching process
Experiments to establish a diamond etching process that had good etch rate, selectivity,
anisotropy and post-etch surface smoothness were performed. The inputs variables investigated
include power, substrate bias, pressure, and gas mixture flow rate. The nominal etching reactor
input variable settings established for diamond etching included a pressure of 4 mTorr, an input
microwave power of 700 W, a substrate induced bias of -125 V and a feed gas mixture of

Ar : O2 : SF6 = 6:20:0 sccm. In addition to establishing a nominal set of input settings to get
good etching results, systematic studies of the etch rate, anisotropic etch profile and post-etch
surface roughness versus reactor input settings were performed.

8.3.1 Etch rate
The diamond etch rate increased with power, pressure and substrate bias increases.
Experimental etching for three types of CVD diamond including NCD, MCD and SCD were
achieved at a pressure range of 4-45 mTorr. The etch rate increased with pressure increases due
to the higher charge density. The MCD diamond etch rate gave the highest etch rate as compared
with NCD and SCD diamond. The SCD diamond etch rate is lowest compared with the NCD
and MCD because the substrate is much thicker causing a large substrate bias voltage drop
across the substrate.

A series of etching experiments were performed for both ECR and non-magnetized
discharges with the rf induced dc bias varied from 0 to -200 V. The experimental results show
that the diamond etching rates increased significantly with bias. For magnetized discharges, the
238

etch rates increased from 0.4 μm/hr (0 V) to 10.3 μm/hr (-200 V). And for non-magnetized
discharges, the etch rates are higher from 1.6 μm/hr (0 V) to 15.1 μm/hr (-200 V). The
explanation for this is because the non-magnetized plasma has a higher plasma density than the
magnetized ECR discharge.

The etching experiments showed that the diamond etch rate increases with oxygen flow
rate increases. In contrast, the diamond etches rate decreases with argon or SF6 gas flow rate
increases. The argon gas addition to the gas mixture helped stabilize the plasma. An optimized
gas mixture for diamond etching is Ar: O2 : SF6 = 6:20:2 sccm. The diamond etch rate was
repeated stably for a long period of etching time. The radial etching uniformity achieved was as
low as 6% variation in etch rate across the 6 inch diameter of the substrate holder in the ECR
plasma etcher.

8.3.2 Anisotropic etch
A series of etching experiments on NCD diamond were performed to investigate
anisotropic etching for a pressure range from 4 to 45 mTorr. Increasing the pressure results in the
diamond etch rate increasing but the anisotropic etch profile became more isotropic. High
pressures caused a larger deviation from a perpendicular sidewall feature due to more collision of
the ions as they cross the plasma sheath above the substrate. An anisotropic profile for NCD
diamond etching of 82 degree was achieved at a pressure of 4 mTorr.

239

8.3.3 Mask selectivity
Five mask materials including gold, aluminium, titanium, silicon dioxide and silicon
nitride were investigated for diamond selectivity. The mask layer was deposited and patterned on
2

square 1.5 x 1.5 cm NCD substrates with diamond thickness ~2-4 μm. The aluminium material
showed the highest selectivity (56) compared with other mask materials. The addition of SF6
gas to the feed gas mixture also affected the selectivity. The etch selectivity is higher without the
presence of the SF6 gas, but lack of SF6 made the etched surface rougher due to the spires or
whiskers that formed all over the diamond etched surface. Etching with SF6 gas present in the
mixture leaves the etched surface smoother. The selectivity is not significantly affected by the
mask feature sizes. The selectivity is also decreased when the negative substrate bias increased.

8.3.4 Etched Surface Morphology
Diamond etched without SF6 resulted in whisker structures on the diamond etched
surface. They can be produced from micro-masking effects by the deposition of hard to etch
materials onto the surface. For the gold mask, the density of whiskers that appear on the etch
surface is less than with other mask materials. Those whiskers can be eliminated by adding a
small amount of SF6 (2-3 sccm) into the oxygen rich gas mixture. Another phenomenon
observed are randomly formed pits appearing on the etched SCD diamond surface. The
8

2

distribution of these pits is not uniform and the density is in the range from 2- 7.6 x 10 pits/cm .
These pits have been attributed to residual defects (mainly from dislocations) in SCD diamond.

240

8.4 Diamond smoothing
A part of this research investigated methods to smooth MCD diamond surfaces using plasmaassisted etching combined with a sacrificial layer and mechanical lapping/polishing. Three
methods studied were: 1) plasma etching combined with sacrificial layers (photoresist 1813
and Si3N 4 ); 2) plasma etching combined with mechanical polishing; and 3) plasma etching with
a selectivity of one combined with a sacrificial layer ( SiO 2 ) and mechanical polishing. A
highest polishing rate of up to 185 μm/hr was achieved with method 3 using a selectivity of one
recipe. The lowest polishing rate used method 2 that combined plasma etching and mechanical
polishing to give a rate of 120 μm/hr. All three methods showed a significant improvement of the
removal rate for MCD diamond smoothing as compared with mechanical polishing only method.

It was found that by combining plasma etching and mechanical lapping/polishing, a smooth
surface roughness Ra at a range of 50 nm was obtainable faster than mechanical polishing only.
For surface roughness value of less than 50 nm the mechanical polishing only method worked
best. The etching method with selectivity of 1, which combined plasma etching with mechanical
lap/polish of the sacrificial SiO 2 layer, quickly reduced the roughness to 300 nm.

8.5 Future research

241

1) Diamond etch rate increases with higher values of microwave power, substrate bias,
pressure and oxygen gas flow rate. Increasing those input variables more above nominal
values is promising to further increase the diamond etch rate. The non-ECR plasma
etching mode of operation is also promising for further increasing the etching rate.
Depending on the required selectivity and anisotropic etching requirement, higher etch
rates should be achievable.

2) Pits in the etched SCD surface are believed to be related to defects from the diamond
growth. How to reduce or eliminate those pits from occurring during plasma etching is an
open issue.

3) Methods of plasma-assisted diamond smoothing need to be further develop for smoothing
thicker MCD film with a high surface roughness of 10‘s-100‘s micrometers. Higher etch
rates achievable at higher pressure above 100 mTorr may be useful for diamond
smoothing. The micro cracks that appear on the MCD films after the smoothing process
are also a challenge for diamond smoothing.

4) Etching uniformity across a large area substrate is a challenge for ECR plasma
etching. Etching experiments to further investigate and improve the etch uniformity are
needed.

8.6 Conclusions:

242

In conclusion, the Lambda Technologies etcher with 30.5 cm diameter cavity applicator
has microwave mode behavior as expected from earlier work. Both ECR and non-ECR plasmas
worked at low pressure in the regime regimes of 4-100 mTorr. This research presented both ECR
and non-ECR plasma etching of three types of CVD diamond samples including nanocrystalline
diamond, microcrystalline diamond (MCD) and single crystalline diamond. The CVD diamond
samples were patterned at a micrometer scale and high etch rates and highly anisotropic profiles
were obtained. A high selectivity of 56 was also obtained with aluminium as the mask material.
A significant improvement of diamond removal rate for a diamond smoothing technique that
used a combined plasma-assisted etching and mechanical polishing was also achieved as
compared to mechanical polishing only. This research shows that plasma-assisted etching of
diamond has strong potential for post processing of diamond, especially for MEMS and other
electronic devices using diamond based material.

243

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