• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
• /
• v.7 no.3
• /
• pp.169-175
• /
• 1998

The plasma etching of polysilicon was performed with the HBr/$Cl_2/He-O_2$ gas mixture. The residual layers after photoresist strip were investigated using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The etch residue was identified as silicon oxide deposited on the top of the patterned polysilicon. In order to clarify the formation mechanism of the etch residue, the effects of various gas mixtures such as $Cl_2/He-O_2$and HBr/$Cl_2$were investigated. We found that the etch residue is well formed in the presence of oxygen, suggesting that the etch residue is caused by the reaction of oxvgen and non-volatile silicon halide compounds. Wet cleaning and dry etch cleaning processes were applied to remove the polysilicon etch residue, which can affect the electrical characteristics and further device processes. XPS results show that the wet cleaning is suitable for the removal of the etch residue.