Process Hierarchy

  BOE/BHF clean
Process characteristics:
Process duration
Specify desired etch time (if known)
Process duration
Specify desired etch time (if known)
unconstrained
Etchant
Solutions and their concentrations.
HF (buffered)
Sides processed both
Equipment
Comments:
  • Wet chemical solutions of hydrogen fluoride used specifically to remove native oxides on silicon. A buffered oxide etch (BOE) is a chemically stable solution designed to maintain a certain pH. It makes the etching more uniform and less sensitive to the amount of active area exposed to the etchant.