@article{c321511b3e9f4aa79972e3cb59b99f2b,
title = "Bias-pulsed atomic layer etching of 4H-silicon carbide producing subangstrom surface roughness",
abstract = "A new approach to atomic layer etching (ALE) has been demonstrated, and its application to 4H-SiC is reported here. By pulsing only the DC bias for an Ar/Cl2 inductively coupled plasma-reactive ion etching system, the etch cycle duration is reduced by more than an order of magnitude relative to conventional ALE processes. Gas flows are not changed throughout the ALE process. With this process protocol, we achieved an etch rate of 2.48 ± 0.09 {\AA}/cycle with 6 s cycles, an RMS surface roughness (Rq) of 0.83 ± 0.08 {\AA}, and an ALE synergy value of S = 99%. The parameters explored within this ALE process demonstrate effective subangstrom smoothening of 4H-SiC surfaces and is well-suited for a variety of classical and quantum device nanofabrication.",
author = "Michaels, {J. A.} and N. Delegan and Y. Tsaturyan and Renzas, {J. R.} and Awschalom, {D. D.} and Eden, {J. G.} and Heremans, {F. J.}",
note = "The support of this work by Oxford Instruments is gratefully acknowledged. Special thanks go to Karthick Jenganathan (UIUC Holonyak Micro and Nanotechology Laboratory) and Kathy Walsh (UIUC Materials Research Laboratory) for maintaining the ALE and AFM instruments used in this paper. We also thank David Graves (Princeton University and Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory) for helpful discussions. Additional support was provided by Q-NEXT, part of the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, National Quantum Information Science Research Centers (D. D. A. and F. J. H.) and the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Science and Engineering Division (N. D.). Y. T. was supported by an Internationalization Fellowship (No. CF20-0475) from the Carlsberg Foundation.",
year = "2023",
month = may,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1116/6.0002447",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "41",
journal = "Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology A: Vacuum, Surfaces and Films",
issn = "0734-2101",
publisher = "AVS Science and Technology Society",
number = "3",
}