Technologies Available for License

2011-008: Reactive Ion Etching of Monolayer and Multilayer Materials

Invention: 2011-008

Patent Status: U.S. Patent Number 9,153,453 was issued on October 6, 2015

For technical and licensing related questions, email tcp@bnl.gov.

Summary

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SEM cross-section micrograph of etched multilayers

The invention describes two novel etching process that can be used to etch monolayer and multilayer structures made from a variety of materials such as tungsten and tungsten silicides. The etched materials can be potentially used in a wide range of fields such as semiconductor fabrication, MEMS (microelectromechanical systems), and refractive X-ray optics.

Description

This invention describes mainly two reactive ion etching processes for sectioning by etching of monolayer and multilayer materials. The etching processes use a combination of fluorine, oxygen and other halogen gases. The main differences are about the gases, temperature or the number of steps involved into the etching processes. The silicide-based or organo-metallic monolayers that can be etched are WSi₂, VSi₂, MoSi₂, Si, Mo, Ni, Al₂O₃, or W. The silicide-based or organo-metallic multilayer that can be etched include WSi₂/Si, W/Si, W/B₄C, W/C, Mo/Si, MoSi₂/Si, Mo/B₄C, Ni/B₄C, Al₂O₃/B₄C, VSi₂/Si.

Journal Publication & Intellectual Property

• US 9,153,453 B2 (.pdf)
• WSi2/Si Multilayer Sectioning by Reactive Ion Etching for Multilayer Laue Lens Fabrication (.pdf)