METHOD OF ATOMIC LAYER ETCHING USING FUNCTIONAL GROUP-CONTAINING FLUOROCARBON

A method of atomic layer etching (ALE) uses a cycle including: continuously providing a noble gas; providing a pulse of an etchant gas to the reaction space to chemisorb the etchant gas in an unexcited state in a self-limiting manner on a surface of a substrate in the reaction space; and providing a pulse of a reactive species of a noble gas in the reaction space to contact the etchant gas-chemisorbed surface of the substrate with the reactive species so that the layer on the substrate is etched. The etchant gas is a fluorocarbon gas containing a functional group with a polarity.