Dry etching refers to the processes that use energetic gaseous species produced by a plasma to remove material. In order to modulate and control the etching conditions and characteristics, different types of plasma sources are utilized in the dry etching process and the equipment are categorized accordingly.

If you would like to learn about different types of dry etchers and how to chose your etcher, please visit the online dry etching course.

If you would like to see a summary of etchers for a specific material (i.e. SiO2 or poly silicon) please visit the materials page.

 

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 Stylus Tip Radius
Downstream/Remote Plasma Resist Removal, Downstream/Remote Plasma Etching Gasonics Aura Asher
gasonics 		Clean, Semiclean
25

Single wafer tool with auto loading from a cassette. Pieces need a pocket carrier wafer for transport. Wafers heated by lamps.
Inductively Coupled Plasma Etching (ICP) Lam Research TCP 9400 Poly Etcher
lampoly 		Clean, Semiclean
25

Single wafer etch with auto-loading from a cassette. Equipment originally used for gate etching with high selectivity to thin gate oxides.
Downstream/Remote Plasma Resist Removal, Downstream/Remote Plasma Etching Matrix Plasma Resist Strip
matrix 		Flexible
25

Single wafer tool with auto loading from a cassette. Pieces need a pocket carrier wafer for transport. Chuck temperature controls wafer heating.
Reactive Ion Etching (RIE) MRC Reactive Ion Etcher
mrc 		Flexible
1

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
1

4" wafers; can be adopted to do 6" or 8" wafers; pieces need to be bonded to carrier wafers
Inductively Coupled Plasma Etching (ICP) Oxford III-V etcher
Ox-35 		Flexible
1

Metal etching or  Metal hard masks are not allowed. 4" wafers; can be adopted to do 6" or 8" wafers; pieces need to be bonded to carrier wafers; Restrictions: III-V materials only.
Inductively Coupled Plasma Etching (ICP) Oxford Plasma Pro ICP-RIE
Ox-gen 		Flexible
1
-10 °C - 60 °C
Inductively Coupled Plasma Etching (ICP) Oxford Plasma Pro ICP-RIE ALE
Ox-ALE 		Flexible
1
0 °C - 40 °C
Inductively Coupled Plasma Etching (ICP) Oxford Plasma Pro ICP-RIE Ox
Ox-Ox 		Clean
1
-20 °C - 40 °C
Inductively Coupled Plasma Etching (ICP) Plasma Therm Versaline LL ICP Deep Silicon Etcher
PT-DSE 		Flexible
1

Single wafer; Bosch process for Si etching; Default 4" config; Can be converted to 6" config; pieces need to be attached to carrier wafer; need a support wafer for through wafer etching, can be used for Isotropic Si Etching
Inductively Coupled Plasma Etching (ICP) Plasma Therm Versaline LL ICP Dielectric Etcher
PT-Ox 		Flexible
1

Single wafer; Default 4" config; Can be converted to 6" config; pieces need to be attached to carrier wafer; Restrictions: Can not etch metals or metal oxides with no volatile by-products (shorting & arcing issues)
Inductively Coupled Plasma Etching (ICP) Plasma Therm Versaline LL ICP Metal Etcher
PT-MTL 		Flexible
1

Single wafer; Default 4" config; Can be converted to 6" config; pieces need to be attached to carrier wafer; Restrictions: Can not etch metals or metal oxides with no volatile by-products (shorting & arcing issues)
Reactive Ion Etching (RIE) Plasmaetch PE-50
plasma-etch 		Flexible
Multiple

Low power, high pressure plasma; low bias, minimal damage. Often used for surface treatment.
Plasma Mode Etching, Reactive Ion Etching (RIE), Downstream/Remote Plasma Resist Removal Samco PC300 Plasma Etch System
samco 		Flexible
Four 4" wafers or two 6" wafers and one 8" wafer
20 ºC
Dry Resist Removal, Dry Etching Technics Asher
technics 		Flexible
Four 4" wafers to pieces, one 6" or 8" wafer