Room temperature facile anisotropic atomic-level etching of hafnium oxide films without using halogen gases and creating no reaction byproducts

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1097408

"strong ionic bond between hafnium and oxygen atoms exhibits high dielectric constant, superior thermal stability, wide band gap, optimal for ultrathin semiconductors... low-pressure, high-density plasma generation alternately irradiates with N2/ O2 plasmas... 0.023 to 0.107 nm etch depth/ cycle... formation of Hf-N bonds, nitrogen atoms replace surface oxygen atoms when exposed to N₂ plasma, then exposed to O2 plasma causing bond decomposition... after 20 etching cycles, surface roughness reduced 60%"