A Review: Inductively Coupled Plasma Reactive Ion Etching of Silicon Carbide.

The inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching (ICP-RIE) is a selective dry etching method used in fabrication technology of various semiconductor devices. The etching is used to form non-planar microstructures-trenches or mesa structures, and tilted sidewalls with a controlled angle. The ICP-RIE method combining a high finishing accuracy and reproducibility is excellent for etching hard materials, such as SiC, GaN or diamond. The paper presents a review of silicon carbide etching-principles of the ICP-RIE method, the results of SiC etching and undesired phenomena of the ICP-RIE process are presented. The article includes SEM photos and experimental results obtained from different ICP-RIE processes. The influence of O2 addition to the SF6 plasma as well as the change of both RIE and ICP power on the etching rate of the Cr mask used in processes and on the selectivity of SiC/Cr etching are reported for the first time. SiC is an attractive semiconductor with many excellent properties, that can bring huge potential benefits thorough advances in submicron semiconductor processing technology. Recently, there has been an interest in SiC due to its potential wide application in power electronics, in particular in automotive, renewable energy and rail transport.

Influence of the Interactions at the Graphene-Substrate Boundary on Graphene Sensitivity to UV Irradiation.

Graphene is a very promising material for electronics applications. In recent years, its sensitivity to ultraviolet (UV) irradiation has been studied extensively. However, there is no clear answer to the question, which factor has a key influence on the sensitivity of graphene to UV. In order to check the influence of the final substrate on the electrical response, graphene transferred on polymeric and non-polymeric substrate was investigated. To achieve this goal three polymeric and three non-polymeric substrates were tested. The results of the preliminary tests indicated the different character of the reaction on UV irradiation in each of group. To explain the reason of the difference, the complementary studies were done. The samples that were resistant to high temperature were annealed in a vacuum at 500 °C to get rid of water trapped between graphene and the substratum. The samples after annealing reacted less dynamically to UV irradiation. Moreover, the progress of changes in electrical response of the annealed samples had a similar character to the polymeric substrates, with the hydrophobic nature of the surface. These studies clearly prove that the sensitivity of graphene to UV irradiation is influenced by water trapped under the graphene.