Plasma etching of polymers is an important process in the fabrication of
integrated circuits, printed circuit boards and other emerging technologies. High rates
can be obtained using oxygen diluted with a fluorine-containing gas, most commonly
CF₄. In this thesis, two less studied fluorinated gases, NF₃ and SF₆ are investigated.
Polyphenylene...
A gas phase kinetic model for the CF₄/O₂ microwave discharge plasma and afterglow of our laboratory has been developed. A reaction pathway identifying the major chemical reactions is proposed. The rate coefficients of the electron impact dissociation reactions are determined at three different plasma powers using both published electron molecule...