Dry etching

Process Group - Process Control Data

See the Process Control Data page for SPC charts (etch rate, uniformity, selectivity, etc. over time) for frequently used dry etch processes.

Dry Etching Tools / Materials Table

Process Maturity Ranking

• L1 — process has been run at least once
• L2 — process has been run and procedure is documented
• L3 — process has been run, procedure is documented, and data is available
• L4 — documented procedure with regular (≥4× per year) data, no in-situ control
• L5 — documented procedure with regular data and in-situ control available
• L6 — fully controlled process with documented procedure and control charts/limits
• A — process allowed and materials available but never run
• – — process not allowed or not applicable

Dry Etching Recipes
	RIE Etching			ICP Etching				Oxygen Plasma Systems		Other Dry Etchers
Material	Oxford RIE	Tegal Plasma (not in op.)	Tegal O2 Asher	Oxford DRIE	Oxford DRIE-ALE (comm.)	Oxford III-V	YES O2 Plasma	XeF2 etcher	Other
Ag
Al	L4
Au										L3
Cr	L4									L1
Cu										L1
Ge										L1
Mo										L1
Ni										L3
Pt										L3
Ru										L1
Si	L3		L3	L6	L1	L3	L3	L3		L1
SiO₂	L3		L3	L6	L1	L3	L3			L1
Si₃N₄	L3		L3	L6	L1	L3	L3			L1
ITO										L1
GaAs						L6					L1
InP						L6					L1
GaN						L6					L1
Photoresist & Organics	L3		L6	L3	L1	L3	L6	L3		L1
Material	Oxford RIE	Tegal Plasma (not in op.)	Tegal O2 Asher	Oxford DRIE	Oxford DRIE-ALE (comm.)	Oxford III-V	YES O2 Plasma	XeF2 etcher	Other

Process Ranking Table

Processes in the table above are ranked by their "Process Maturity Level" as follows:

Level	Color	Description of Process Level Ranking
A	A	Process Allowed and materials available but never done
L1	L1	Process has been run at least once
L2	L2	Process has been run and procedure is documented
L3	L3	Process has been run, procedure is documented, and data is available
L4	L4	Documented procedure with regular (≥4× per year) data, no in-situ control
L5	L5	Documented procedure with regular data and in-situ control available
L6	L6	Fully controlled process with documented procedure and control charts/limits available