Development of a tungsten plasma etch process for IR nanobolometer fabrication

In this paper we present our development of a SF₆/Cl₂-based plasma etch recipe for a LAM Research 4720 etch chamber. Our tungsten plasma etch recipe is used to pattern nanoscale resistor features integrated within a novel IR sensor process. We characterised the nanoscale etch in terms of five primary process parameters using a 16-run V fractional factorial experiment, to provide accurate estimates of all main effects and two-factor interactions. The experimental results determined the target levels for the etch process parameters. Our optimised nanoscale tungsten etch module was then integrated within a CMOS/MEMs-compatible nanobolometer infrared (IR) sensor fabrication flow. Our use of tungsten improves the reliability of the sensor pixels at elevated stress current levels, when compared with equivalent Ti-based pixel structures, and demonstrates the potential of tungsten as a CMOS-compatible nanobolometer material.