Etching characteristics of LaNiO3 thin films in BCl3

LaNiO3 LNO electrode was intensively studied as electrodes because LNO has a pseudocubic
perovskite crystal structure with a lattice parameter of 3.84 Å. But the etching process of LNO thin
films must be developed in order to realize highly integrated ferroelectric random access memories.
In this work, we investigated etching characteristics and mechanisms of LNO thin films using
inductively coupled BCl3 /Ar plasma ICP system. The maximum etch rate of LNO thin films was
41.1 nm/min at a BCl320/Ar80 gas mixing ratio. The positive ions and the ion energy
distributions were measured with a quadrupole mass spectrometer QMS. As rf power and dc bias
voltage increased and working pressure decreased, the ion energy and etch rates of LNO thin films
were increased. A chemically assisted physical etch of LNO was experimentally confirmed by ICP
system and QMS measurements.The positive ions and the ion energy distributions IEDs
were measured with a Hiden EQP plasma probe Hiden Analytical
Ltd., EQP 510. EQP等离子体质量和能量分析质谱仪