title: Fabrication of ultrathin and highly uniform silicon on insulator by numerically controlled plasma chemical vaporization machining.
abstract: Metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors fabricated on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer operate faster and at a lower power than those fabricated on a bulk silicon wafer. Scaling down, which improves their performances, demands thinner SOI wafers. In this article, improvement on the thinning of SOI wafers by numerically controlled plasma chemical vaporization machining (PCVM) is described. PCVM is a gas-phase chemical etching method in which reactive species generated in atmospheric-pressure plasma are used. Some factors affecting uniformity are investigated and methods for improvements are presented. As a result of thinning a commercial 8 in. SOI wafer, the initial SOI layer thickness of 97.5+/-4.7 nm was successfully thinned and made uniform at 7.5+/-1.5 nm.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamada-Oka, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasuhisa
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sano
authors.forename: Kazuya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamamura
authors.forename: Hidekazu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mimura
authors.forename: Kazuto
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamauchi
authors.forename: Yuzo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mori
mesh_terms: D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D003460:Crystallization / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D004867:Equipment Design / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005740:Gases / Q000737:chemistry*; D006358:Hot Temperature; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D008839:Microelectrodes; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D009716:Numerical Analysis, Computer-Assisted; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012825:Silicon / Q000737:chemistry*; D014173:Transistors, Electronic
chemical_list: D005740:Gases; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D012825:Silicon