Designer atomic layer etching

An apparatus for processing a substrate, the apparatus comprising:

• a process chamber comprising a showerhead and a substrate support for holding the substrate having a material,
• a plasma generator, and
• a controller having at least one processor and a memory,
• wherein the at least one processor and the memory are communicatively connected with one another,
• the at least one processor is at least operatively connected with flow-control hardware, and
• the memory stores machine-readable instructions for:
• causing identification of process conditions for an atomic layer etching process of the material using a modification gas and a removal gas;
• and
• causing performance of the atomic layer etching process on the material on the substrate by:
• causing introduction of the modification gas to modify a surface of the material, the modification gas having a modification energy and a desorption energy with respect to the material to be etched, and
• causing introduction of the removal gas and generation of a plasma to remove the modified surface,
• wherein the modification energy is less than the desorption energy, and the desorption energy is less than a surface binding energy of the material;
• wherein the identification of the process conditions comprises causing selection of a substrate temperature for introduction of the modification gas, wherein an ion energy provided by the substrate temperature is between the modification energy and the desorption energy;
• and
• further comprising wherein the material has a surface binding energy greater than about 6 eV, and wherein the machine-readable instructions further comprises causing of setting the substrate at a temperature to provide an ion energy between the modification energy and the desorption energy prior to the causing performance of the atomic layer etching process.