Editing Isotropic etching

{{short description|Multidirectional etching in semiconductor manufacturing}}
{{Other uses|Etching (disambiguation)}}
{{More references|date=December 2009}}

In [[semiconductor manufacturing]], '''isotropic etching''' is a method commonly used to remove material from a [[Wafer (electronics)|substrate]] via a chemical process using an [[Etching (microfabrication)|etchant]] substance. The etchant may be in liquid-, gas- or [[Plasma (physics)|plasma]]-phase,<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Chang|first1=Floy I.|last2=Yeh|first2=Richard|last3=Lin|first3=Gisela|last4=Chu|first4=Patrick B.|last5=Hoffman|first5=Eric G.|last6=Kruglick|first6=Ezekiel J.|last7=Pister|first7=Kristofer S. J.|last8=Hecht|first8=Michael H.|editor-first1=Wayne |editor-first2=M. Edward |editor-first3=Fang-Chen |editor-last1=Bailey |editor-last2=Motamedi |editor-last3=Luo |date=1995-09-13|title=Gas-phase silicon micromachining with xenon difluoride|journal=Microelectronic Structures and Microelectromechanical Devices for Optical Processing and Multimedia Applications|publisher=SPIE|volume=2641|pages=117–129|doi=10.1117/12.220933|bibcode=1995SPIE.2641..117C|s2cid=39522253 }}</ref> although liquid etchants such as [[Buffered Oxide Etch|buffered hydrofluoric acid]] (BHF) for [[silicon dioxide]] etching are more often used. Unlike [[Anisotropy|anisotropic]] etching, [[Isotropy|isotropic]] etching does not etch in a single direction, but rather etches in multiple directions within the substrate.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-06-03 |title=Isotropic Etching to Anisotropic Etching and Semiconductor Manufacturing |url=https://resources.pcb.cadence.com/blog/2020-isotropic-etching-to-anisotropic-etching-and-semiconductor-manufacturing |access-date=2024-08-11 |website=resources.pcb.cadence.com |language=en-US}}</ref> Any horizontal component of the etch direction may therefore result in undercutting of patterned areas, and significant changes to device characteristics. Isotropic etching may occur unavoidably, or it may be desirable for process reasons.

==References==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Isotropic Etching}}
[[Category:Semiconductors]]