Prototyping of Si and III–V Compounds by Plasma Chemistry Using Dry Film Photoresist Mask

ABSTRACT Fast and reliable plasma chemistry plays a crucial role in the fabrication of micro‐ and nanoscale structures in numerous applications. In this work, we demonstrated that fast and optimal etch chemistry using an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) system in combination with a simple and cost‐effective dry film photoresist (DFR) as a mask transfer. The results show that the proposed DFR, which simultaneously removes the edge bead and air bubbles, can be successfully used in chlorinated and fluorinated chemistries, resulting in fast etching rates and good selectivity from 5:1 to 16:1 for GaAs and from 30:1 to 150:1 for silicon substrates. This solution offers the promise of drastically cutting down microfabrication time and minimizing contamination. It could pave the way for a novel, rapid manufacturing process that is applicable in various fields, regardless of the size or shape of the substrate.