Process for etching tin oxide

Claim 2

A process for etching a tin oxide structure on a surface, comprising the step of subjecting exposed areas of tin oxide to a gas phase etchant formed from a major proportion of chloroform and a minor proportion of a polymer suppressant selected from the group consisting of inorganic compounds including at least one chlorine atom, said inorganic compounds being liquid or gas, and having a high vapor pressure, under ambient conditions.

Claim 3

The process of claim 1, wherein the polymer suppressant is selected from the group consisting of chlorine, boron trichloride, sulfur dichloride and mixtures thereof.

Claim 4

The process of claim 2, wherein the polymer suppressant is comprised of chlorine.

Claim 5

The process of claim 3, and further including the step of mixing chlorine and chloroform in a molar ratio in the range of about 0.001 to about 0.1 in order to form the etchant.

Claim 6

The process of claim 2, wherein the polymer suppressant is comprised of boron trichloride.

Claim 7

The process of claim 5, and further including the step of mixing boron trichloride and chloroform in a molar ratio in a range of about 0.005 to about 0.2 to form the etchant.

Claim 8

The process of claim 1, and further including the steps of: ionizing the etchant to form a plasma etchant; and maintaining the pressure of the plasma etchant in a range from 0.05 to 1.0 torr during the step of subjecting the exposed areas of tin oxide to the etchant.

Claim 9

A process for selectively removing tin oxide from a surface, comprising the steps of: forming a sheet of tin oxide on the surface; selectively forming a mask on the sheet to define a plurality of exposed areas of tin oxide; forming a gas etchant from a major proportion of chloroform gas and a minor proportion of a gas selected from the group consisting of inorganic compounds having at least one chlorine atom, the compounds being liquids or gases and having a high vapor pressure under ambient conditions; ionizing the gas etchant to produce a plasma; and etching the exposed areas with the plasma.

Claim 10

A process for selectively removing tin oxide from a surface, comprising the steps of: forming a sheet of tin oxide on the surface; selectively forming a mask on the sheet to define a plurality of exposed areas of tin oxide; forming a gas etchant from a major proportion of chloroform gas and a minor proportion of a gas selected from the group consisting of inorganic compounds having at least one chlorine atom, the compounds being liquids or gases and having a high vapor pressure under ambient conditions; ionizing the gas etchant to produce a plasma; and etching the exposed areas with the plasma.

Claim 11

The process of claim 8, and further including the step of: bombarding the exposed areas of tin oxide with an inert gas prior to the step of etching the exposed areas in order to remove undesirable thin film residues from the exposed areas.

Claim 12

The process of claim 9, wherein the inert gas comprises argon.

Claim 13

The process of claim 8, and further including the step of: ashing the surface subsequent to etching the exposed areas in order to remove the mask and any carbon-based polymer formed during the step of etching the exposed areas.

Claim 14

The process of claim 11, wherein the step of ashing further includes the step of subjecting the surface to an ashing composition comprising oxygen and argon.

Claim 15

The process of claim 8, and further including the steps of: placing the surface inside a reactor vessel; and maintaining a low pressure inside the reactor vessel ranging from about 0.05 to about 1.0 torr.

Claim 16

The process of claim 13, wherein the pressure is maintained at about 0.15 torr.

Claim 17

The process of claim 13, wherein said vessel further includes a cathode for generating a radio frequency discharge, the process further including the step of: coupling a radio frequency generator to the cathode; and maintaining the power of the generator at a selected value between 300 and 1200 watts.

Claim 18

The process of claim 15, wherein the power is maintained at about 600 watts.

Claim 19

The process of claim 13, and further including the step of: maintaining a temperature not exceeding about 80° C. inside the vessel during the step of etching the exposed areas.

Claim 20

The process of claim 13, and further including the step of flowing the gas etchant through the reactor at a selected flow in the range of 1.2×10 -7 to 6.0×10 -7 standard liters per minute per liter of reactor volume.

Claim 21

The process of claim 8, and further including the step of forming the gas etchant from a major proportion of chloroform gas and a minor proportion of a suppressant selected from the group consisting of chlorine, boron trichloride, sulfur dichloride and mixtures thereof.

Claim 22

The process of claim 19, and further including the step of forming the gas etchant from a major proportion of chloroform gas and a minor proportion of boron trichloride.

Claim 23

The process of claim 19, and further including the step of forming the gas etchant from a major proportion of chloroform gas and a minor proportion of chlorine.