Plasma etching device and process

In a plasma etching process utilizing a chamber divided into first and second regions by a perforated member, the steps of:

• introducing material to be etched into the first region, introducing an etching gas into the chamber, exciting the gas to form a plasma in the second region, and confining the glow discharge of the plasma to the second region while permitting active species of the plasma to pass through the perforated member to effect etching of the material in the first region.

A plasma etching device comprising:

• a cylinder having an end wall and an opposing front opening, at least one electrode surrounding said cylinder and connected to a source of radio frequency energy;
• a perforated cylinder of electrically conductive metal within, concentric to, and spaced from the wall of said cylinder;
• said perforated metal cylinder being large enough in diameter to contain within it the material to be etched and serving to isolate the material from the glow discharge of the plasma to pass to the material to effect etching of the same.

A plasma etching device comprising:

• a cylinder having an end wall and an opposing front opening;
• at least one electrode surrounding said cylinder and connected to a source of radio frequency energy;
• a perforated enclosing structure of electrically conductive metal within and spaced from the wall of said cylinder, said perforated metal enclosing structure being large enough to contain within it the material to be etched and serving to isolate the material from the glow discharge of the plasma while permitting active species of the plasma to pass to the material to effect etching of the same.

In a plasma etching device:

• a housing having a first region of sufficient size to receive material to be etched and a second region separate from the first region, means for heating the material within the first region, means for introducing gas into the chamber, means for exciting the gas in the second region to produce a plasma of said gas, and means including a perforated member for confining the glow discharge of the plasma to the second region while permitting active species of the plasma to pass from the second region to the first region to effect etching of the material in the first region.

In a plasma etching system:

• a housing having at least one wall defining a reaction chamber, a perforated cylinder open at both ends positioned within the chamber for receiving material to be etched therin, means for introducing an etching gas into the chamber, and means for energizing the gas to form a plasma in the region between the cylinder and the housing wall, the perforated cylinder serving to confine the glow discharge of the plasma to said region while permitting active species of the plasma to pass to the interior of the cylinder to effect etching of the material positioned there.

In a process for removing photoresist from a wafer, the steps of:

• dividing a chamber into first and second regions with a perforated member, placing the wafer in the first region, generating an oxygen-containing plasma in the second region, confining the glow discharge of the plasma to the second region with the perforated member, and allowing active species of the plasma to pass through the perforated member to effect removal of the photoresist from the wafer in the first region.

In a plasma etching and photoresist removal process, the steps of:

• dividing a chamber into first and second regions with a perforated member, placing a wafer having photoresist defining a pattern thereon in the first region, generating a plasma of active species in the second region for effecting removal of material not protected by the photoresist from the wafer, confining the glow discharge of the plasma to the second region with the perforated member, allowing the active species to pass through the perforated member to effect removal of the material from the wafer, and thereafter heating the wafer and exposing the wafer to an oxygen-containing plasma in the first region to effect removal of the photoresist from the wafer.