The etching properties of MgO thin films in $Cl_2/Ar$ gas chemistry

유도 결합 플라즈마를 이용한 MgO 박막의 식각특성

The metal-ferroelectric-semiconductor (MFS) structure is widely studied for nondestructive readout (NDRO) memory devices, but conventional MFS structure has a critical problem. It is difficult to obtain ferroelectric films like PZT on Si substrate without interdiffusion of impurities such as Pb, Ti and other elements. In order to solve these problems, the metal-ferroelectric-insulator-semiconductor (MFIS) structure has been proposed with a buffer layer of high dielectric constant such as MgO, $Y_2O_3$, and $CeO_2$. In this study, the etching characteristics (etch rate, selectivity) of MgO thin films were etched using $Cl_2/Ar$ plasma. The maximum etch rate of 85 nm/min for MgO thin films was obtained at $Cl_2$(30%)/Ar(70%) gas mixing ratio. Also, the etch rate was measured by varying the etching parameters such as ICP rf power, dc-bias voltage, and chamber pressure. Plasma diagnostics was performed by Langmuir probe (LP) and optical emission spectroscopy (OES).