STUDY OF SILICON CONTAMINATION AND NEAR-SURFACE DAMAGE CAUSED BY CF//4/H//2 REACTIVE ION ETCHING.

Reactive ion etching (RIE) is a plasma-assisted dry etching technique which is anisotropic. Depending on the choice of etching gases, etch selectivity with respect to a number of electronic materials can be achieved. However, RIE can cause contamination and/or damage of silicon surfaces, both of which impact devices in a detrimental way and both of which are as yet not well characterized.