Design of Setup for Laser Induced Plasma Etching

Plasma etching introduces a physically activated chemical process highly utilized in the semiconductor industry. However, for the creation of etched structures mask has to be prepared on top of the etched surfaces. This is usually achieved by electron beam lithography, which adds to the complexity and financial demands of the overall process. We present the design of a setup for maskless plasma etching, which utilizes a tightly focused ultrashort laser pulse for the ignition of etching plasma in a custom vacuum chamber with a connection to a gas-containing etching species. In addition, etched structures are written into the surface of sample by scanning with the vacuum chamber with relation to fixed laser focus. This enables maskless 3D etching of samples with a less complicated technological process.