Acquisition of an Inductively Coupled Plasma Etching System for Research and Education

Ohio State University Research Foundation -Do Not Use, Columbus OH

Investigators

Abstract

This award from the Instrumentation for Materials Research program supports the acquisition of an inductively coupled reactive ion etching (ICP-RIE) system at The Ohio State University. This facility will immediately generate new materials and materials-allied research programs at Ohio State with substantial teaming amongst interdisciplinary partners. It will have enormous impact on a very wide range of existing electronic materials - based research programs in several academic departments, many of which are currently supported by NSF. The equipment is engineered for research level and pilot line plasma processing using corrosive processing gases such as Cl2, BCl3 or SiCl4. It has an automatic switch dual power range RF generator, which makes etching possible under very low ion energies. The formation of this facility will allow the coalescence of inter-university research programs across the state, that span fundamental studies on the effects of ICP-RIE processing on the properties of semiconductors to the development of novel device structures, heterostructures and nanostructures. The equipment chosen for this purpose is explicitly designed for such flexible utilization, so that the breadth of activities and wide ranging impact expected will be achieved. %%% With this award from the Instrumentation for Materials Research program The Ohio State University will establish a state-of-the-art facility for the plasma processing of a wide range of electronic and photonics materials, with the acquisition of an inductively coupled reactive ion etching (ICP-RIE) system. This facility will immediately generate new materials and materials-allied research programs at Ohio State with substantial teaming amongst interdisciplinary partners. Once in place, the ICP-RIE will rapidly attract local and statewide industrial joint projects ranging from sensor technologies to photonics and energy conversion technologies. To ensure open access to multiple users, the ICP-RIE system will be placed into our well-established Semiconductor Processing Clean room structure to be employed in the research and education of dozens of undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral associates from both inside and outside Ohio State. Finally, the ICP-RIE system will allow us the ability to process a wide range of materials, a core capability that we are currently lacking. This system will complement existing facilities in the clean room, and thus its impact will be greatly enhanced by the leveraging obtained via almost all projects using the clean room facilities.