MRI: Acquisition of an Inductively Coupled Plasma Dry Etching System for Highly Controlled Etching of Chalcogenides and Related Compounds

University Of Colorado At Boulder, Boulder CO

Investigators

Abstract

The objective of this project is to acquire a tool that enables fabrication of high quality electronic and photonic devices. Examples include light sources, high performance sensors, state-of-the-art precision clocks, information processing and communication components, and solar energy harvesting devices. The new tool will provide the critical capability of precisely etching materials in a prescribed geometry, currently not available on our campus and other institutions in the region. This new capability will enable explorations of new research frontiers. A diverse set of fields will be impacted including computing, communications, frequency metrology, sensing, energy, and medicine. The new tool will naturally provide research and training opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, preparing them for tomorrow?s high tech industry. Furthermore, the new tool will be housed in the Colorado Nanofabrication Laboratory (CNL) serving the local industry as well as the research community. It will also be used in a newly revamped course, the Micro- and Nano-Structures Laboratory, providing hands-on experience to both undergraduate and graduate students. Additionally, the tool will be utilized in outreach activities that include under-represented students. The acquired inductively coupled plasma (ICP) dry etching system can handle a variety of gases, including chlorine-based compounds. The system will provide new etching capability for a variety of materials, including compound semiconductors, oxides and metals. It will also significantly expand the processing capability for silicon. The ability to fabricate high quality electronic and photonic devices has been instrumental in a number of key technology advancements including integrated circuits, solid-state light sources and detectors, energy harvesting, and flexible electronics. In the future, further advancements will lead to miniature optical clocks using chip-scale optical frequency combs, ultra high-speed microprocessors with photonic I/O, high efficiency solar cells with nanopatterned metamaterials, and flexible electronic-photonic devices for biosensing applications. The key capability that the etcher will provide is the ability for dry etching with high anisotropy, precisely controlled etch rate and high quality etch surface. The ICP etcher represents a significant expansion of our capabilities in both material types and etch quality. The etcher will spark a wide array of inorganic, organic and hybrid functional materials and devices research, potentially transforming the materials research on campus as well as impacting many research activities in the region and beyond.