Interhalogen etching of tantalum compounds and other semiconductor materials.

We find gaseous CIF(3) is an effective etchant for certain Ta compounds used in the fabrication of hybrid integrated circuits (HIC's). Kinetics for etching alpha-Ta, Ta(2)N, and Ta(2)O (5) in this gas have been studied as a function of temperature and pressure to provide effective activation energies and selectivity data. There is a highly selective etching of alpha-Ta and Ta(2)N over Ta(2)O(5), indicating that the CIF (3) etch process is useful in producing HIC's containing tantalum thin film elements.