Planarization of patterned surfaces by ion beam erosion

The angular dependence of ion beam erosion has been utilized to achieve planarization of patterned surfaces. Deviation from planarity of <500 Å has been demonstrated on planarized SiO2 covered patterned Si surfaces with 1.5-μm-deep recesses. The technique should be applicable to a wide variety of materials with different physical, chemical, optical, and electrical properties, and should be particularly useful in very high speed integrated circuit development.