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| Hauptseite > Publikationsdatenbank > Reactive Field Assisted Sintering of Novel Rare Earth Garnets for Plasma Etching Applications |
| Hauptseite > Publikationsdatenbank > Reactive Field Assisted Sintering of Novel Rare Earth Garnets for Plasma Etching Applications |
| Book/Dissertation / PhD Thesis | FZJ-2025-03234 |
2025
Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH Zentralbibliothek, Verlag
Jülich
ISBN: 978-3-95806-833-9
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Abstract: Over the last decades, semiconductor manufacturing processes have seen significant advancements. Due to their high resistance to fluorine-based etching plasmas, advanced structural ceramics, such as yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG), are commonly used as inner wall materials in plasma etching devices. However, driven by the ongoing refinement of the manufacturing process and the increasing complexity of plasma gas compositions, there is a growing need for alternative materials that offer enhanced plasma etch resistance. To address this, the following work investigates lanthanoid garnets beyond YAG as alternative inner wall materials for the application in fluorine-based etching plasmas. It is hypothesized that substituting the Y3+ ion in the garnet crystal with heavier ions can enhance overall plasma etch resistance. The study first investigates the effect of fully substituting Y3+ with the lanthanoids Er3+, Yb3+, and Lu3+, on the plasma etch resistance. Additionally, the impact of partially substituting the yttrium ion with Yb3+ and Lu3+ was studied. Samples were processed using the reactive field-assisted sintering technology/ spark plasma sintering (FAST/SPS) of the respective oxides. This innovative approach allows for near net shape consolidation close to theoretical density in a single process step with short processing times. The plasma etch resistance of the ceramic samples was tested in a systematic etching study. Specimens were exposed to fluorine-based etching plasmas (Ar/CF4/O2). By adjusting main process parameters such as bias voltage and process pressure, the corrosiveness of the plasma was varied from weak to aggressive. Depending on the plasma conditions, the erosion was either more chemically or physically driven. The subsequent characterization procedure was adapted according to the dominating erosion mechanisms. To achieve a fundamental understanding of the erosion process in weak plasma, a correlative approach for assessing critical parameters of the induced chemical gradient in etched samples was developed. Using this procedure, a reduced plasma penetration was found in rare earth garnets compared to YAG. However, in aggressive plasma conditions, YAG outperformed lanthanoid garnets, even though a minor effect of the heavier dopant ions was evident. By investigating both application-oriented and fundamental aspects, this work builds a solid basis for the target-oriented application of alternative garnets in semiconductor manufacturing processes.
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