Selective etch of titanium carbide materials using oxidation

A method of dry etching a titanium carbide material comprising titanium, carbon, and a metallic species, the method being performed in situ within a processing chamber and comprising:

• performing an oxidation step comprising exposing the titanium carbide material to an oxidizing agent to form an oxidized layer comprising titanium oxide (TiOx) species and oxidized metallic (MOn) species, and remove carbon from the titanium carbide material by forming volatilized carbon oxide species;
• performing a fluorination step comprising exposing the TiOx species and the MOn species of the oxidized layer to a fluorinating agent to form metallic fluoride (MFn) species and remove titanium from the titanium carbide material by forming volatilized TiOxFy species;
• and
• performing a substitution step comprising exposing the MFn species to a substitution agent to remove the metallic species from the titanium carbide material by forming volatilized MFn species.

A dry etching system comprising:

• a processing chamber configured to contain a substrate comprising a titanium carbide material;
• an oxidation source fluidically coupled to the processing chamber and configured to supply an oxidizing agent into the processing chamber;
• a fluorination source fluidically coupled to the processing chamber and configured to supply a fluorinating agent into the processing chamber;
• and
• a controller operationally coupled to the oxidation source and the fluorination source, the controller comprising a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a program including instructions that, when executed by the processor, perform a cycle in situ within the processing chamber, the cycle comprising
• an oxidation step comprising exposing the titanium carbide material to the oxidizing agent to form an oxidized layer comprising titanium oxide (TiOx) species and remove carbon from the titanium carbide material by forming volatilized carbon oxide species, and
• a fluorination step comprising exposing the TiOx species of the oxidized layer to the fluorinating agent to remove titanium from the titanium carbide material by forming volatilized TiOxFy species.