PLASMA-ETCHING OF THIN-LAYERS OF ORGANIC POLYMERS .9. TEMPERATURE-DEPENDENCE OF ETCHING RATE FOR POLYMERS OF VARIOUS STRUCTURES

The investigation of the temperature dependence of polymer etching rates in an oxygen plasma was extended to some more polymers. The complex nature of the etching process becomes obvious, because the temperature dependences are often nonlinear. Characteristic changes in the slope of the curves correspond only in some cases with the glass temperature of the polymers. Therefore these points can also be connected with the formation and etching of adsorption layers. Activation energies of partial processes were determined. Based on the temperature dependence, only some general conclusions on the plasma etching mechanism could be derived.