Ion beam etcher

• Subject Area: Materials Science
• Term: Funded in 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 558683527

An ion beam etching (IBE) system is commonly used for processing thin and thick film systems in semiconductor and microsystem technology. The IBE is an indispensable tool for structuring a wide variety of layered systems. In a vacuum chamber, a high energy argon beam is used to remove material with high uniformity, independent of the material, so that a wide variety of electrical, magnetic or optical layer systems can be specifically structured using lithographic techniques. The projects at the University of Kiel, which include wafer-level structuring of thick films require an IBE with outstanding properties. The substrates for the layers include Si wafers up to 200 mm in diameter. Magnetic layers with a thickness of several micrometers must be patterned homogeneously on such substrates in an acceptable time. The selected high-performance IBE enables the required high etch rates, which are higher than those of previous and conventional systems, while guaranteeing the required large-area etch homogeneity over the entire layer thickness and over large substrate areas. In addition, an endpoint detector is indispensable for the various applications at the Kiel Nanolaboratory, as it enables in-situ monitoring of the etching process and thus guarantees etching processes with depth accuracy in the nanometer range and high etch rates at the same time. The ion beam etching system is an essential part of Kiel Nanolaboratory, a Core Facility at Kiel University.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Ionenstrahlätzer
• Instrumentation Group: 5180 Elektronen- und Ionenstrahl-Quellen und -Bearbeitungsgeräte
• Applicant Institution: Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel
• Leader: Professor Dr.-Ing. Jeffrey McCord