Fabrication of Polycrystalline 3C-SiC Microstructures

Magnetron reactive ion etching (RIE) characteristic of polycrystalline (poly) 3C-SiC thin films grown on thermally oxidized Si substrates are presented. The magnetron RIE can stably etch the poly 3C-SiC thin films at a lower ion energy (70 W) without any damages than the commercial RIE system. The best vertical structure was improved by the addition of 40% O
₂
and 16% Ar with the CHF
₃
reactive gas.