SI XEF2 ETCHING - TEMPERATURE-DEPENDENCE

The temperature dependence of the Si(100)/XeF2 etch reaction is studie d quantitatively in a molecular beam setup. At a sample temperature of 150 K the reaction probability reaches unity initially, after which t he XeF2 condenses on the surface and blocks the etching process. For i ncreasing temperatures the XeF2 reaction probability initially decreas es from 100% at 150 K down to 20% around 400 K, but for temperatures a bove 600 K it increases again up to 45% at 900 K. In a simple reaction scheme the high etch rate at low temperatures is explained by a XeF2- precursor, with an activation energy for desorption of 32+/-4 meV. Fur thermore the increased etch rate at high temperatures is explained by the desorption of SiF2 with an activation energy of 260+/-30 meV. The steady-state fluorine content of the SiFx reaction layer, measured usi ng thermal desorption spectroscopy, reaches a maximum of 5.5 monolayer s at 300 K. For increasing temperatures it decreases to a submonolayer coverage above 700 K. The temperature dependence of the formation of the reaction layer is described well by including the XeF2-precursor i n a previously developed adsorption model. (C) 1996 American Vacuum So ciety.