ABSTRACTA variety of data for physical etching (i.e. sputtering) and for ion-enhanced chemical etching of Si and SiO2 is analyzed in the very-low-ion-energy regime. Bombardment by inert ions alone, by reactive ions, and by inert ions in the presence of reactiveneutrals is considered. In all cases the etch yield follows a square root dependence on the ion energy all the way down to the threshold energy for etching. At the same time, the threshold energy has a non-negligible effect on the etch yield even at intermediate ion energies. The difference between physical and ion-enhanced chemical etch yields can be accounted for by a reduction in the average surface binding energy of the etch products and a corresponding reduction in the threshold energy for etching. These results suggest that, in general, the selectivity for ion-enhanced etch processes relative to physical sputtering can be increased significantly at low ion energy.
