Reactive Ion Etching of NiFe Film with Organic Resist Mask and Metal Mask by Inductively Coupled Plasma

Etching of NiFe films covered with an organic photo-resist or Ti was successfully performed by an inductively coupled plasma-reactive ion etching (ICP-RIE) system using $CHF_3/O_2/NH_3$ discharges exchanging $CHF_3$ for $CH_4$ gas gradually. Experimental results showed that the organic photo-resist mask can be applied to the NiFe etching. In the case of the Ti metal mask, it was found that the etching-selectivity Ti against NiFe was significantly varied from 7.3 to ${\sim}0$ by changing $CHF_3/CH_4/O_2/NH_3$ to $CH_4/O_2/NH_3$ discharges used in the ICP-RIE system. These results show that the present RIE of NiFe was dominated by a chemical reaction rather than a physical sputtering.