Kinetics and Mechanism of the Etching of CoSi2 in HF‐based Solutions

Abstract

The wet etching behavior of films in HF‐based solutions is investigated for a wide range of experimental conditions. It is established that the etching rate of depends on the concentrations of ions and on the initial concentration of HF . Interaction of and HF with the occurs in the adsorption layer. The concentration of adsorbed particles is described by the equation of the Freundlich adsorption isotherm. The kinetic equation of the etching rate is , where kR ≈ 2.5 ⋅ 107 exp (−10500/RT) nm/s (0.416 at 293 K), and . It is shown that the induction period increases in the etching process of in diluted HF, which is attributed to the presence of a thin surface layer on top of the .