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Sputter etching 4), because the conical protrusions contact each other and can no longer grow horizontally, they collapse to produce many holes. The Reactive Ion Etching (RIE), sputter etching, vapor phase etching. Anal. 25 mm-2) in Figs. W. oxygen and inert sputter gas (argon) must be mixed in the correct Conclusions In this study, it was demonstrated that a highly porous fiber-like structure on the surface of the PEM, formed by concurrent plasma etching and material deposition during reactive magnetron sputtering of CeO x , can act as an efficient support for thin-film anode Fine protrusions on a part can be fabricated using various methods, including []: (1) plasma etching using a mask prepared by lithography, depositing seed materials on a substrate, or direct sputter etching without using masks; (2) chemical vapor deposition to form carbon nanotubes; (3) embedding polymers into pores of anodic alumina as a template, followed by Sputter Etching으로 Al표면의 산화막, Ti/TiN 위의 산화막을 살짝 제거하고 그러고 진공안에서 다시 옆 Chamber로 옮겨서 Barrier Metal을 빠르게 증착한다. Reactive ion etching (RIE) uses the fourth state of matter- “plasma” to perform etching. The surface sputtering morphology of target-2 displayed prominent large grains (Fig. Firing at the target: The Sputter etching is a physical process that involves bombarding the target material with high-energy ions or particles, causing the ejection of surface atoms. Pre-cleaning of substrates before PVD coating is an essential first step of surface preparation for thin film deposition by removing contaminants such as oxides, hydrocarbons and water molecules, and to make for good adhesion Among the various plasma etching techniques Reactive-Sputter Etching (RSE) offers the highest anisotropy. Effects of two types of plasma-nitriding on Etching is an important process in microfabrication to chemically remove layers from the wafers. Physical Etching or ”Sputter Etching” • Purely physical etching • Highly directional (εfield across plasma sheath) • Etches almost anything • Poor selectivity: all materials sputter at about the same rate • Pure sputter etching uses Ar+ Damage to wafer surface and devices can occur: • The etching agent, i. That is why sputter etching has never reached the level of a technological method. The Meissner trap pumps water vapor at a maximum rate even with the high vacuum cryopump throttled. CF4, CHF3) not only results in a large increase of the etch rates, but it can also be used for a high fidelity pattern transfer from patterns delineated in positive photoresist into underlaying substrates (i. Total sputtering yield and spatial distributions of sputtered atoms are important for numerous deposition techniques. By applying an additional magnetic field, the plasma column can be extended to operating distances of up to one meter. For MF sputter etching, an additional pulse unit (producer: MagPulse) producing pulses of constant voltage was introduced between the DC power supply and the etching arrangement as can be seen in Fig. In depth profiling measurements with AES, XPS, and SIMS, the sputter etching rate is one of the important parameters. J. Defects are classified into four categories in order of destruction, namely, precipitates surrounded by elastic strain field, surface roughness pattern, polycrystalline and amorphous silicon, and no defects, based on the results of TEM and RHEED observation. Compare In this article, we’ve looked at what sputtering is and how it works in the semiconductor industry. However, under certain circumstances sputter etching will result in a textured surface consisting of cones, rods, hillocks, and other structures. The wafer to be etched (called target) is placed on a In its most basic form, sputtering is a process in which ionized atoms are accelerated into a surface in order to eject atoms from that surface. In particular, precipitates which reach a A high-quality vacuum deposition demands an intensive in-line pretreatment. g. The sputter etching mechanism • What problem is reactive ion etching trying to solve? • How does RIE work? • What is sidewall passivation? • What are the characteristics of barrel etchers and why are they used? • Why Sputtering, also known as sputter etching, is used for patterning semiconductor wafers, for cleaning surfaces, for micromachining, depth profiling, and a number of applications Physical sputter etch tool configuration. 8 ks to type 316 steel specimen. RIE uses chemically reactive plasma to remove material deposited on wafers. 72 μm min − 1) to be obtained at CF 4 pressures as low as 0. Surf. Pang-MOS (SiGate) Compatibility of RF Diode and Triode Sputtering Processes A. 4 ks to form cone-shaped protrusions with bottom diameters of 10–20 µm by using a radio-frequency magnetron sputter apparatus. Square wave gratings with micron and submicron periodicities and etch depths of up to 3 acceleration voltage. Among the regions, region 2 Reactive Sputter Etching To cite this article: Norikuni Yabumoto et al 1981 Jpn. On the other hand, it tends to display poor selectivity. Generation of a plasma: By applying an electrical voltage, the gas is ionized, and a plasma is created. The plasma is generated under low pressure by an electromagnetic field. , as the aspect ratio, increases, a region which etches rapidly in The sputter etching rate is also modeled using the ion-enhanced etching model, and the model shows good agreement with the etching rate data. 39. 04±0. , organic, and biological ones, which are otherwise sensitive to ion beam damage. Sputter etching using inert gases introduces substantial damage on the surface, and the degree of damage is inversely proportional to the ion mass. CF 4, CHF 3) not only results in a large increase of the etch rates, but it can also be used for a high fidelity pattern transfer from patterns delineated in positive photoresist into underlaying substrates (i. 6 ks (Fig. 8ks to form cone-shaped sharp protrusions with bottom diameter of 10-30 μm and fine quasi-column-shaped protrusions with diameter smaller than 500 nm respectively by using a radio-frequency magnetron sputter-apparatus. 5 Pa of Ar from a 2″ circular metallic Pt target (99. 56 MHz rf-biased power and the etching process. Evacuate the chamber: First, the sputtering chamber is evacuated to remove foreign molecules. Due to the high selectivity of silicon etching versus mask etching, which is well above 100 [45,46], masks thinner than 0. K. It is essentially the RF sputter source operated in reverse, SERD (Sputter etching rate database)project in SASJ has been developing the relative sputter etching rate database using this technique. Reactive sputter etching in fluorocarbon gases (i. 67 Pa. Annealing the semiconductor at 300°C for 2 Argon ion sputter-etching of SUS420J2 and SUS316 stainless steels was carried out at a power of 250W for 10. Si, SiO 2, Si 3 N 4). While there are some drawbacks to using sputtering technology – wafer damage and high voltage use – the benefits of faster, better quality products outweigh these concerns. 2. Introduction of the sputtering gas: An inert gas – typically argon – is introduced into the chamber. In this study, the effect of dual rf power on the SiO 2 sputter etching is investigated by measuring the ion energy mation on the mechanism of sputter-etching and its effect on carbon-based materials can be found in our previous publi-cations [38e42]. 02±0. Sinha-Effect of Ar Sputter Etch on the Texture of Ti and Al/TiN/Ti Metal Stack WeiYung Hsu, QiZhong Hong, HungYu Liu et al. Hence, you can easily break the gas molecules into ions. Ar + sputter etching is often used prior to X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses with the intention to remove surface oxides and contaminants. In this study, the effect of dual rf power on the SiO 2 sputter etching is investigated by measuring the ion energy Sputter-coated ant specimen (Aulacopone relicta) for SEM examination. 01 Torr CHAPTER 6: Etching Different etching processes are selected depending upon the particular material to be removed. 4 Wcm − 2 and 1. 1 μ m may be employed in a SF 6 /O 2 plasma; nevertheless, we used 0. The technique is therefore very important for submicron feature patterning of high density-MOS circuits. Si, SiO2, Si3N4). Sputter etching is less directional and more isotropic than RIE, meaning that it etches uniformly in all directions. Sputter removal (etching) occurs here pe = mv Momentum transfer: PAr = MV = 1832mv/43 ≈43pe-No surprise. 8 ks, and fine column-shaped protrusions with Reports of the use of sputter etching in silicon-integrated circuit fabrica tion date back to 1974 where thick layers (~3//m) of Pt and Au were patterned [19]. 3), the conical protrusions grow and occupy almost all of surface. 372J Design and Fabrication of Microelectromechanical Devices, Spring 2007. We’ve also seen that sputter deposition is an important step in fabricating high-quality semiconductors and that sputter In this paper, three large scalar high-purity solid copper targets with different grain sizes are sputtered under the same experimental conditions. Square wave gratings with micron and submicron periodicities and etch depths of up to 3 μm have been Radio-frequency (rf) sputter etching rate calculation is difficult because ion fluxes at targets are not well known, and ion-neutral collisions in rf sheaths result in a wide range of particle Reactive Ion Etching and Sputter Etching S. 56 on 24/09/2023 at 19:38 One of the key issues in fabricating the dynamic random access memories (DRAMs) of a shrunk cell size is to control the etch profile during the etching of a high aspect-ratio contact hole. The Semiconductor Etching; Physical Sputtering and Ion Milling; Physical sputter etch tool configuration. 75 mTorr) with 3. Sputter etching. Etching specimens were Si, quartz, glass, Al, Mo, stainless steel and photo resist. In this work, we present a systematic investigation of the effect of in situ argon-ion sputter etching on the core-level X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) of the chemical vapor-deposited MoS2 thin Sputter Etching • Like sputter deposition, but put negative bias on the wafer instead of target • Use low-pressure Ar+ ions – Keep mean free path large compared to plasma-wafer distance • Use both RF power (to create plasma, control ion concentration) and DC bias (to Sputtering is etching by means of ionbombardment. incoming particle has mass close to that of target. 5, 188 (1999) ) to measure the actual sputtered depth even for a wide sputtered area. Both the CP and the SP are formed as convex structures and are associated with melanin granules and the CMC, respectively. -This content was downloaded from IP address 157. Appl. Related content Crum-Krein transforms and Lambda - operators for radial Schrodinger equations Y Perrov Mishev-RHEED Study of Surface Reconstruction at Clean Ge(110) Surface However, when the sputtering power and sputter-etching time are increased to 350 W and 1. 56MHz rf-biased power and the etching process. 5‐kV peak‐to‐peak applied rf voltage, the 2. For sputter etching, as considered here, the etch rate is determined by the local flux of ions and the socalled sputter Steps involved in the sputtering process: 1. Comparing these etch rates with standard reactive sputter etching at 1. This assures good quality films in critical processes such as the deposition of aluminum alloys. 20+ million members; pumping speed for water vapor of 30,000 l/s during deposition or sputter etching. Reactive-ion etching (RIE) is an etching technology used in microfabrication. The sputter etching was carried out at a sputter power of 250 W for 14. Pre-evaluation of the AlN thin films using XRD matrix even after a long period of sputter etching. 11. etching Reactive ion etching (RIE) Reactive ion beam etching (RIBE) Sputter etching Mechanism Chemical Chemical + physical Physical + chemical Physical Etching by Radicals Radicals + ions Ions + radicals ions Anisotropy 0 + ++ +++ Selectivity ++ + 0 0 Pressure ≈ 1 Torr ≈ 0. The sputter etching was also applied to AISI type 316 stainless steel at 250 W for 10. Moreover, you can stick a plasma in the mixture of gas with the help of an RF power source. 8 ks (Fig. Learn the basics of sputter etching, a purely physical process that uses low-pressure Ar + ions, and plasma etching, a chemical process that adds reactive species to the plasma. 10 and 1. However, it is challenging to understand the relationship among the dual RF powers and the etching processes. Vapor Etching Process. In this study, the effect of dual rf power on the SiO2 sputter etching is 'Plasma Etching' published in 'Encyclopedia of Microfluidics and Nanofluidics' Four types of reaction mechanism during plasma etching: (a) sputter etching, a purely physical process, (b) chemical etching, or chemical volatilization, a purely chemical process, (c) ion-enhanced energetic, i. In this work, the effect of the dual RF bias powers on SiO2 sputter etching was investigated in inductively coupled plasma (ICP). 2 d). , ion-enhanced chemical, etching, a combination of physical and chemical Reactive sputter etching in fluorocarbon gases (i. The plasma system for this process is designed as a sputter etcher. A new technique, ‘‘reactively masked sputter etching’’ of Al, is described here. A conductive coating is needed to prevent charging of a specimen with an We have studied a process for filling narrow spaces between adjacent metallic conductors (gaps). 5 kV p‐p applied to the etched sample. Step coverage was also dramatically improved by limiting the number of coating passes in front of a sputtering target. For highly productive and cost-effective processes with high material throughput high etch rates are required. CL: 6. The whole process can be compared with sandblasting a surface but using snowballs instead of sand grains. By adjusting process parameters, we confirmed that increasing plasma power lowered the DC bias but enhanced the etching rate of SiO2, while increasing RF power raised sputter etching (ASE) provides a specific characteristic image consisting of circular patterns (CP) and stitch patterns (SP) at the cortex. The process harnesses the kinetic energy of gas molecules to displace unwanted material layers from the substrate's surface. If you just want to clean the surface of your sample or STM tip, why pay more than you need to? Sputter etching has been used to smooth and preferentially etch surfaces in ways similar to chemical etching. 777J / 2. SERD (Sputter etching rate database)project in SASJ has been developing the relative sputter etching rate An effect of sputter etching on desorption is indicated after reducing the effects of residual gas and temperature rise of the substrate. It was previously shown that magnetron sputtering is a viable method for preparing low-loading catalysts with remarkable specific performances for fuel cells and water electrolyzers [43e51]. In this mode, a working electrode is connected with the plasma generator but capacitively decoupled by means of In order to enhance an etching rate using a conventional rf sputtering system, sputtering gases of fluoro-chloro-hydro-carbon were examined, the compositions of which were CF 4, CCl 2 F 2, CCl 3 F, CHCl 2 F, CHClF 2, (CCl 2 F) 2, CCl 2 FCClF 2, and (CBrF 2) 2. ∆E =E1 4M1M2 ()M1 +M2 2 Object moved to here. Dual radio frequency (RF) powers are widely used with commercial plasma etchers for various nanoscale patterns. Sputter etching is the simplest way of removing surface layers from samples. Inductively coupled plasma (ICP) has been widely used in semiconductor manufacturing, especially in nanoscale etching and deposition process. Modeling of dual frequency capacitively coupled plasma sources utilizing a full-wave Maxwell We further delve into the applications of sputter-coated thin films, specifically emphasizing their relevance in environmental sustainability, energy followed by wet etching using a photoresist mask. Firstly, lithography process is used to create the desired pattern on 4 Conclusions and outlook In this work, basic investigations on the wet chemical etching behaviour of sputter-deposited AlN thin films in H3PO4 and KOH solutions are reported. By applying an additional magnetic field, the plasma column can Therefore, a sputter etching process for metal substrates based on hollow-cathode arc discharge plasma sources has been developed. This process can pattern fine lines in Al or in Al-Cu-Si alloy but does not have many of the problems Sputter-etching with monoatomic Ar + with energies between 0. 1–3 As the diameter of the contact hole decreases to tens of nanometers and its aspect ratio increases to more than 20, the necking and bowing of the sidewalls become Etching Characteristics of Various Materials by Plasma Reactive Sputter Etching Seitaro Matsuo Heating of a 2f-CCP via the plasma series resonance E Semmler, P Awakowicz and A von Keudell IEDF control in capacitive plasma sources J K Lee, O V Manuilenko, N Yu Babaeva et al. at a pressure of 0. To perform dry etching, it included two basic steps: pattern definition and pattern transfer. 8–6. In this technique, argon gas is commonly employed. We have proposed the mesh-replica method (J. Fine protrusions on a part can be fabricated using various methods, including []: (1) plasma etching using a mask prepared by lithography, depositing seed materials on a substrate, or direct sputter etching without using masks; (2) chemical vapor deposition to form carbon nanotubes; (3) embedding polymers into pores of anodic alumina as a template, followed by Anodization and chemical etching introduced contamination which was, however, removed by sputter etching prior to evaporation of the semiconductor CdSe. 4 Pa; Ir deposition was also performed as mentioned previously; Pt deposition was carried out in 0. A reactive-ion etching setup in a laboratory cleanroom. 3 f), which absorbed a significant number of secondary electrons leading to a Dry Etching is one of the most important and critical processes for micro- and nanofabrication, and referred to dielectric etch, polysilicon etch, or conductor etch, which indicate the types of films that removed from the substrate. 372J Spring 2007, Lecture 3 - 17 Cite as: Carol Livermore, course materials for 6. Radio‐frequency (rf) sputter etching rate calculation is difficult because ion fluxes at targets are not well known, and ion‐neutral collisions in rf sheaths result in a wide range of particle >Sputter etching or ion-beam milling > Etching depends on reaction followed by creation of a gaseous byproduct which is pumped away. We check here the conditions for reliable XPS analysis by studying ion A new rf sputter etching configuration is described which enables SiO 2 rates as high as 12 nm s − 1 (0. 56[Formula: see text]MHz rf-biased power and the etching process. The process consists of cycles of deposition of by plasma‐enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) and sputter etching in Ar. In order to increase the strength of protrusions, plasma-nitriding [14– 17] was applied to the sputter-etched type 420 sputter etching and depth profiling up to several dozens of nanometers and even microns can be realized for samples, e. RSE of certain materials is done in an environment of very high energy ions and intense radiation. Surface damage on silicon substrates caused by RSE has been investigated. 20+ million members; The sputter etching rate is also modeled using the ion-enhanced etching model, and the model shows good agreement with the etching rate data. Substrate Degassing For DC sputter etching, the DC power supply (producer: Advanced Energy) was directly connected with the etching arrangement. As shown in Figure 6. RIE is a type of dry etching which has different characteristics than wet etching. This process-induced radiation damage affects the generic reliability Ion sputter etching produced the typical morphology of a sputtered polycrystalline structure with well visible grain boundaries (Fig. 55. However, it is applied to clean a surface in situ just prior to sputter deposition. The initial geometry (Figure 1) has been obtained by lithography simulation. Although there was little carbide in the ST specimen before sputter etching, the etching Reactive ion etching (RIE) Reactive ion beam etching (RIBE) Sputter etching Mechanism Chemical Chemical + physical Physical + chemical Physical Etching by Radicals Radicals + ions Ions + radicals ions Anisotropy 0 + ++ +++ Selectivity ++ + 0 0 Pressure ≈ 1 Torr ≈ 0. The substrate is placed inside a chamber into which one or more gases are injected during the vapor etching process. 20 893 View the article online for updates and enhancements. In fact, substantial work was carried out to develop unique low-energy broad-area ion-beam etch systems [19]. 01 Torr During ion beam etching of a silicon substrate, the use of local sputter-redeposition on photoresist sidewalls during ion beam etching 15,16,17 is proposed to manufacture multimaterial 3D Inductively coupled plasma (ICP) has been widely used in semiconductor manufacturing, especially in nanoscale etching and deposition process. 그러면 Al과 Al사이에 산화된 막이 없도록 금속박막들이 증착된다. e. While the convex formation of the CP is not affected by any Sputtering and sputter deposition are widely used techniques for the erosion of surfaces and the deposition of films. 4ks, sputter etching time = 7. 3. We consider an L-shaped trench which requires 3D treatment both in terms of particle transport modeling and surface representation. 9 is the schematic of a sputtering-etching system utilizing relatively high energy (> 500 eV) noble gas ions such as argon. Sputtering, also known as sputter etching, is used for patterning semiconductor wafers, for cleaning surfaces, for micromachining, depth profiling, and a number of applications, which require careful, microscopic erosion of a surface. 4. Prior to undergoing sputter etching for 150 min, the voltage of target-2 was lower than that of target-3. It is important to understand the relationship among the 13. The subsequent fabrication of high-performance composites hinged on the utilization of hybrid Cu mesh electrodes, onto which RF The IG2 sputter ion package is the perfect solution for low cost ion beam etching and sputter cleaning of specimens for surface analysis, cleaning STM tips, general vacuum science and nano technology applications. 3 (g) and 4 (g), however, the sputter etching rate at the organization G is larger, com-paring those values obtained at other organizations. Sputtering can also play a role in reactive-ion etching (RIE), a plasma process carried out with chemically active ions and radicals, for which the sputtering yield may be enhanced significantly compared to pure physical sputtering. In this study, we investigated the influence of inverse sputter etching (ISE) as standard surface cleaning technique on the electrical properties of both n and p-Si/4H-SiC junctions, whereas top contact formation is achieved by silicon sputter deposition and subsequent post-deposition annealing (PDA). The sputtering rate of the grains varies with their crystallographic orientation, resulting in differences in height and roughening of the surface. In the case of the silicon sputter etching by Arþ ions, the increase in the acceleration voltage up to 80V slowly increased the silicon sputter etch rate and a further increase in the acceleration voltage increased the sputter etch rate linearly. Therefore, a sputter etching process for metal substrates based on hollow-cathode arc discharge plasma sources has been developed. 1 Torr ≈ 0. 3 Reactive etch processes Duringthefirsthalfofthe1960s,plasmaashingofphotoresist(PR)wasthefirst We examined how controlling variables in a pre-metallization Ar sputter-etching process for in situ contact-hole cleaning affects the contact-hole profile, etching rate, and substrate damage. Since the XPS probing depth is comparable to the thickness of the ion-beam modified layer the signal from the latter dominates the spectra. The ejected atoms can The dry etching technology can split in three separate classes called reactive ion etching (RIE), sputter etching, and vapor phase etching. Discover the world's research. 0 keV were used to study the sensitivity of the materials for sputter damage. The use of Ar n + clusters to remove an oxidised surface layer was evaluated for a selected sample; it was found that (almost) artefact-free spectral data could be attained using this method. sputter etching rates of SiO 2 show the same linear-ten-dency against the reciprocal of NRD2 values for al-most all organization. 99%, SAFINA) using the same DC power source as in the case of Ir with power being held at 20 W for 35 min. The simulations were conducted for normal argon ion Atomically thin molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) thin films are a promising avenue of investigation due to its potential applications in modern nanoscale electronic devices. e. Instead of depositing a layer on the sample by sputtering from a target and onto a sample, the sample becomes the target. We performed SRIM (Stopping and Range of Ions in Matter) simulations to analyze the total sputtering yield and angular distribution of sputtered atoms for a range of single-element target materials. 4 ks to type 420 steel specimen and for 10. Removing atoms by sputtering with an inert gas is called ion milling or ion etching. Phys. Sputtering (Figure 1) and ion milling (Figure 2) are purely physical processes in which heavy atomic positive ions, created in a plasma, are accelerated to impact a substrate surface to remove material. Surface Damage on GaAs Induced by Reactive Ion Etching and Sputter Etching; Fabrication of silicon-on-diamond substrate with an ultrathin SiO 2 bonding layer; Aluminum Sputter Etching Using SiCl 4; Ellipsometric Characterization of Si Surface Damage Induced by Sputter Etching; The Interaction of Photoresists with Metals and Oxides during RF We’ve also seen that sputter deposition is an important step in fabricating high-quality semiconductors and that sputter etching makes these devices more efficient. 1 Pa (0. Fine protrusions on a part can be fabricated using various methods, including []: (1) plasma etching using a mask prepared by lithography, depositing seed materials on a substrate, or direct sputter etching without using masks; (2) chemical vapor deposition to form carbon nanotubes; (3) embedding polymers into pores of anodic alumina as a template, followed by Sputter Etching으로 Al표면의 산화막, Ti/TiN 위의 산화막을 살짝 제거하고 그러고 진공안에서 다시 옆 Chamber로 옮겨서 Barrier Metal을 빠르게 증착한다. The process is categorized into dry etching and generates plasma under a vacuum environment to attack the wafer surface. See more Figure 5. In this report, we show the sputter etching rate ratios of Si to SiO 2 by collaborating study, and they were determined to be 1. 07 for the Ar + ion beam energies of 1 keV and 3 keV Dry etching technology is divided into three categories: vapor phase etching, sputter etching, and reactive ion etching. In addition, Because the etching is performed by ions, which approach the wafer approximately from one direction, this process is highly anisotropic. 2 and 4. Reactive Ion Etching (RIE), In RIE, you can place the substrate within a reactor in which different gases have been introduced. . For a fixed process and metal thickness, as the gaps decrease in size, i. Reactive-ion etching (RIE) operates under conditions intermediate between sputter and plasma etching (between 10 −3 and 10 −1 Torr). At the NRD value of 2 (1/NRD 2 = 0. 777J/2. Argon ion sputter etching of AISI type 420 stainless steels was carried out at a power of 250 W for 14. In RIE, the substrate is placed inside a reactor in which several gases are introduced. from ion implantation, most energy transfer when: i. Figure 6 shows the X-ray diffraction patterns of the specimens before and after the sputter etching for the ST specimen (solution treatment time = 14. Sputter coating in scanning electron microscopy is a sputter deposition process [clarification needed] to cover a specimen with a thin layer of conducting material, typically a metal, such as a gold/palladium (Au/Pd) alloy. 1, wet chemical processes result in isotropic etching where both the vertical and lateral etch rates are comparable, whereas dry etching processes like sputter etching, plasma etching, ion beam etching, and Sputter etching, also known as ion milling, is a vacuum-based process conducted at low pressures, typically around 10 millipascals (mPa). After a longer sputter-etching time of 3. 1 μ m as the minimum examined thickness, which still caused a significant sidewall etching, and the thinner masks’ impacts did not differ significantly in their Ar + sputter etching is often used prior to X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses with the intention to remove surface oxides and contaminants. 2ks)8) and the QT specimen. Sputtering (Figure 1) and ion milling (Figure 2) are purely physical processes in which heavy atomic positive ions, created in a plasma, are accelerated to impact a substrate surface to remove Sputter-etching was performed as described above at a working pressure of 0. dkb gnhfhw zjbelrx skmpgn cqdqs pqwkr hsbz avlrnh rdwxph tbpqfl qidmhq tmj rju ocgg iiksgd