Experimental and theoretical approaches for the study of etching surface reactions

Abstract

Plasma etching involves various reactive ions and neutral species generated in plasmas. A better understanding of surface etching reactions with such species enables highly controlled fabrication of micro/nano-structures on surfaces of various materials. To develop such process technologies, it is crucial to obtain fundamental data on the interactions of various incident ions and radicals with the surfaces of interest and to establish surface reaction models based on such data. In this article, the methods to obtain such data with the use of mass-selected reactive ion beam experiments, numerical simulation, and machine learning techniques are discussed.