Dry-etching mechanism of sputtered Pb(Zr1-xTix)O-3 film

The Pb(Zr1-xTiz)O-3 (PZT) etching mechanism involving an ion-assisted etching reaction in a Cl-2 helicon wave plasma environment was studied in terms of the physical-bombardment-induced structural change of the film and chemical interaction of the damaged surface with halogen. In-situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic analysis of a 1 kev-Ar+-irradiated PZT surface used in combination with Rutherford backscattering spectrometry revealed that the physical bombardment preferentially breaks Pb-O bonds, releasing Pb in the crystal which is subsequently sputtered from the surface, resulting in low Pb concentration on the surface. Thermal reaction study at 600 degrees C of Cl+-, F+- and Ar+-implanted PZT using X-ray diffraction indicated that the induced low Pb concentration initiates the subsequent reaction with existing halogen on on the damaged surface, which is accompanied by a structural change in the film.