Temperature dependence of silicon nitride etching by atomic fluorine

The temperature dependence of the etch rate of silicon nitride by atomic fluorine has been measured using a discharge-flow reactor. The activation energy of this process is 3.55±0.28 kcal/mol, quite similar to activation energies of Si and SiO2 etching, which were also measured (3.02±0.31 and 3.36±0.40 kcal/mol, respectively).