This study is to analyze the etch characteristic of line-patterned Cu flims under various etch conditions using non-halogen gases. The etching of Cu films has great difficulty due to very low volitility of Cu compounds formed by the reaction with conventional etch gases. Because of this fact, Cu patterining has been achieved by the damascene process containing thin film deposition and chemical mechanical processing. Although many researches were carried out since 1990s, no remarkable progress has been made. As the dimension of Cu pattern has been shrinked, the etching process of Cu films has become the main issue because the damascene process reveals fatal disadvantages. In this study, inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching (ICPRIE) of Cu film was performed using non-greenhouse gases. Gas mixtures containing Cl₂/Ar, HCl/Ar, HBr/Ar, O₂/Ar, and H₂/Ar were used to etch Cu thin films. In addition, the influences of the gas concentration, ICP power, gas pressure and dc- bias to substrate on each characteristic were investigated. The etch profiles and etch mechanism of Cu films were examined by field emission scanning electron microscopy, optical emission spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, respectively.

Acknowldgments This research was supported by the MOTIE(Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy (10080450) and KSRC(Korea Semiconductor Research Consortium) support program for the development of the future semiconductor device.