Reactive Ion Etching (RIE)

Reactive ion etchers are parallel plate, capacitively coupled plasma etchers wherein the substrate sits on the powered electrode. An RF power, in most cases at 13.56MHz, is applied to the powered electrode. The powered electrode area is typically smaller than the grounded electrode area. Gases that are fed into the chamber are ioized and produce a gaseous mixture of neutral and ionized species. The positively charged species accelerate toward the biased electrode where the substrate is placed and causes the etching of the substrate. It is also called ion assisted etching as neutrals also participate in the etching process.

Main Tab

Processing Techniques	Equipment name & NEMO ID	Teaser Blurb	Cleanliness	Location
Reactive Ion Etching (RIE)	MRC Reactive Ion Etcher mrc	The MRC is a general purpose, plasma reactive ion etching system, used to etch a variety of materials, including metals, oxides, nitrides, silicons, and some organic films.	Flexible	SNF Paul G Allen L107 Cleanroom
Reactive Ion Etching (RIE)	Oxford Dielectric Etcher oxford-rie	Oxford-rie is to etch di-electric materials with fluorine based etch gases and oxygen.	Flexible	SNF Paul G Allen L107 Cleanroom
Reactive Ion Etching (RIE)	Plasmaetch PE-50 plasma-etch	The Plasmaetch PE-50 is located in Venice, and is used primarily for surface treatment, for example with PDMS.	Flexible	SNF Exfab Paul G Allen 155A Venice
Plasma Mode Etching, Reactive Ion Etching (RIE), Downstream/Remote Plasma Resist Removal	Samco PC300 Plasma Etch System samco	The SAMCO etcher is a multifunctional etcher that can operate in either the RIE, plasma etch or Downstream plasma modes	Flexible	SNF Paul G Allen L107 Cleanroom

Detail Tab

Processing Technique	Equipment name & NEMO ID	Cleanliness	Primary Materials Etched	Other Materials Etched	Substrate Size	Maximum Load (number of wafers)	Process Temperature Range	Gases	Notes
Reactive Ion Etching (RIE)	MRC Reactive Ion Etcher mrc	Flexible	Metal oxides Metals Metals or metal compounds with volatile byproducts Metals or metal compounds without volatile byproducts Au Ni poly(p-xylylene) Pt Si Si3N4 SiO₂ Ti Various 2D Materials Various Dielectrics Various polymers PI Resist	Al AlAs AlGaAs AlGaN AlInP AlN AlSi BiFeO₃ C C C Co CoFeB Cr Cu Er Fe Ga₂O₃ GaAs GaN GaP GaPN Ge Hf HfN III-N materials III-V materials In In₂O₃ InAlN InAs InGaAlN InGaAs InGaAsN InGaN InGaP InN InP InPN InSb Ir LaB₆ LiNb Nb Ni_xO_y NiSi Pd Ru Sc SiC SiGe SiO SiON Sn SnO₂ SrO SrRuO Ta Ta₂O₅ TaN TiN V Various C-based Various polymers W WO₃ WSi₂ Y ZnO₃ Zr ZrY Alumina AZO Hafnia ITO LLZO Moly Moly Oxide Poly Silicon Ti Tungsten Titania YSZ Zirconia	Pieces 2" 3" 4" 6"	1		Ar CHClF₂ CHF₃ O₂ SF₆	Typically used for sputter etching; Single wafer, direct load system; wafers/ pieces can be directly placed on electrode
Reactive Ion Etching (RIE)	Oxford Dielectric Etcher oxford-rie	Flexible	Si3N4 SiC SiO₂ PI	C	4"	1		Ar CF₄ CHF₃ N₂ O₂ SF₆	4" wafers; can be adopted to do 6" or 8" wafers; pieces need to be bonded to carrier wafers
Reactive Ion Etching (RIE)	Plasmaetch PE-50 plasma-etch	Flexible	Resist		Pieces 2" 3" 4" 6"	Multiple		78% N₂, 21% O₂, ~1% Ar	Low power, high pressure plasma; low bias, minimal damage. Often used for surface treatment At SNF - nSiL lab
Plasma Mode Etching, Reactive Ion Etching (RIE), Downstream/Remote Plasma Resist Removal	Samco PC300 Plasma Etch System samco	Flexible	Resist	dimethylpolysiloxane Si Si3N4 SiO₂ SiON Various polymers PI	Pieces 2" 3" 4" 6" 8" Other	Four 4" wafers or two 6" wafers and one 8" wafer	20 ºC	CF₄ O₂ SF₆