Plasma Etching
A semiconductor manufacturing process using reactive gas plasmas to selectively remove surface layers from microchip wafers.
Governing formula
Anisotropic Reactive Ion Etching (RIE)
SI unit
nm/min (Etch Rate) & Aspect Ratio
In depth
Combines chemical etching from reactive radical species with physical ion bombardment accelerated across the plasma boundary sheath to achieve high-aspect-ratio anisotropic micro-trench etching.
Examples in the real world
Fabricating sub-3nm silicon transistor channels and 3D NAND memory trenches using capacitive RF plasma etching.