Damage Analysis of Reactive Ion and Quasi-Atomic Layer Etched Silicon
Atomic layer etching (ALE) is a cyclic technique based on self-limiting processes, such as reactive gas adsorption and material removal by low-energy ion bombardment 1,2. In a typical ALE process Ar+ ions with energies of 20-60 eV are used to desorb the reaction products, e.g. SiClx for the Si ALE. Compared to a corresponding continuous reactive ion etching (RIE), where the ion energies often exce