A Trench Etching Machine is specialized equipment used for precisely fabricating micro-scale trench structures with high aspect ratios on semiconductor materials such as silicon, gallium nitride (GaN), and silicon carbide (SiC) through anisotropic dry or wet etching processes.

In dry etching processes, the equipment primarily utilizes an Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) source to generate high-density plasma. By adjusting process parameters (such as bias power, gas ratio, and pressure), it precisely controls the vertical bombardment and chemical reactions of ions with the substrate. This enables high-speed, highly anisotropic etching predominantly in the vertical direction, forming trench structures with steep sidewalls and controllable morphology.

Application Fields

This equipment is a core tool for manufacturing modern power semiconductors and microelectronic devices.

• Core Application Fields:

• Power Devices: Used for fabricating field-stop trenches in silicon-based IGBTs and unit cell gate trenches in SiC MOSFETs, which are critical for enhancing device density and switching performance.

• Advanced Memory: In 3D NAND Flash, it is used to etch channel holes and staircase structures with extremely high aspect ratios in the stacked layers, representing a significant technical challenge.

• Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS): Used for processing deep trench structures in devices such as MEMS accelerometers and gyroscopes.

• Typical Scenarios:

• Any process requiring high anisotropy, high selectivity, and low-damage deep etching of silicon and compound semiconductors.

• Research, development, and mass production of next-generation semiconductor devices with higher efficiency and power density.

The process capability of this equipment directly determines the quality of the trench morphology, thereby impacting device performance and reliability, making it a critical step in advanced semiconductor manufacturing.