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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 February 2011
Downstream oxygen plasmas are used routinely to etch and strip resist materials in integrated circuit (IC) process sequences. Differences in the electrical damage incurred in thin (26 nm) silicon dioxide films on silicon due to the afterglow of rf and microwave oxygen plasmas appear to be due to higher energy VUV emission and to a greater density of positive ions in the case of rf excitation at downstream distances less than 35 cm. The high flux of oxygen ions in electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasmas also permits reasonable silicon oxidation rates at low temperature. Oxidation rates ofsilicon in ECR oxygen plasmas at temperatures between 250 and 450 C are comparable to those obtained for thermal oxidation in dry oxygen at temperatures above 850 C. Although oxidation rates are adequate under floating, anodic or cathodic bias conditions, only oxides grown under floating or anodic conditions display comparable chemical, physical and electrical properties to those of thermal oxides.