Abstract
Dry etching of the magnetic thin films such as Ta, Fe, Co, NiFe, NiFeCo, and MnNi was carried out in inductively coupled plasmas of Cl2/Ar mixture. All the magnetic materials went through a maximum etch rate at 25% Cl2. The effects of the ICP source power and the rf chuck power on the etch rate and the surface roughness were quite dependent of the materials. An ion-enhanced chemical etch mechanism was important for the magnetic films. The surface roughness of the etched samples was relatively constant of the rf chuck power up to 200 W, but a rougher surface at a higher rf power was obtained. Post-etch cleaning of the etched samples in de-ionized water reduced the chlorine residues substantially.
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Park, H.J., Ra, HW., Song, K.S. et al. Inductively coupled plasma etching of Ta, Co, Fe, NiFe, NiFeCo, and MnNi with Cl2/Ar discharges. Korean J. Chem. Eng. 21, 1235–1239 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02719500
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02719500