Substrate temperature effect on F+ etching of SiC: Molecular dynamics simulation

In this study, we performed molecular dynamics simulations to investigate F+ continuously bombarding SiC surfaces at temperatures of 100, 400, 600 and 800 K with the energy of 150 eV. The simulation results show that the etch rate of Si atoms is more than that of C atoms. With increasing temperature, the deposition yield of F atoms decreases, while the etch yields of C and Si atoms increase. In etching products, SiF, SiF2 and CF species are dominant. Their yields increase with increasing temperature. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.