J O U R N A L O F M A T E R I A L S S C I E N C E 3 6 (2 0 0 1 ) 3453 – 3459
Reactive ion etching of diamond in CF4, O2, O2 and Ar-based mixtures P. W. LEECH CSIRO Division of Manufacturing Science and Technology, Victoria, Australia E-mail:
[email protected] G. K. REEVES, A. HOLLAND School of Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering, R.M.I.T. University, Victoria, Australia The reactive ion etching of diamond in O2 , CF4 /O2 , CHF3 /O2 , O2 /Ar discharges has been examined as a function of bias voltage, flow rate and composition of the gas mixtures. Etching in O2 and O2 /Ar plasmas (with flow ratio of O2 /Ar ≥25%) was characterised by a high etch rate (∼35 nm/min) and an increase in surface roughness with rising bias voltage. The CF4 /O2 plasmas also produced a high etch rate (∼50 nm/min) but with only minor dependence of roughness on bias voltage. In comparison, the O2 /Ar (with O2 /Ar flow ratio
