One-Step Etching Characteristics of ITO/Ag/ITO Multilayered Electrode in High-Density and High-Electron-Temperature Plasma

This paper presents the dry etching characteristics of indium tin oxide (ITO)/Ag/ITO multilayered thin film, used as a pixel electrode in a high-resolution active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) device. Dry etching was performed using a combination of H₂ and HCl gases in a reactive ion etching system with a remote electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma source, in order to achieve high electron temperature. The effect of the gas ratio (H₂/HCl) was closely observed, in order to achieve an optimal etch profile and an effective etch process, while other parameters-such as the radio frequency (RF) power, ECR power, chamber pressure, and temperature-were fixed. The optimized process, with an appropriate gas ratio, constitutes a one-step serial dry etch solution for ITO and Ag multilayered thin films.