An experimental study of chemical reaction kinetics, and material damage mechanisms, in low energy electron-enhanced etching of semiconductor surfaces will be conducted. The general goal is to evaluate low-energy electron-enhanced etching as a damage-free alternative to Reactive Ion Etching for fabricating nanometer-scale structures. The pay-offs from this project include: (1) a new, practical low-damage etching process for ultrasmall structures, (2) several in situ techniques for evaluating etch damage during the process, (3) a conceptual bridge from practical etching and "figure-of-merit" damage evaluation to fundamental materials properties, which reduces the need for empirical process development, and (4) a substantial step toward fully integrated fabrication facilities for ultrasmall structures. %%% This research is motivated by the practical need for low-damage etching of ultrasmall quantum well structures. Ion-enhanced plasma etching developed in silicon technology has had very limited success in this size range, primarily because of ion-induced damage. This project is expected to contribute substantially toward manufacturing capabilites for nanometer-scale devices, and the new technologies enabled by these devices.
