Deposition and Etching of Conformal Boron Films for Neutron Detector Applications

In this work, the deposition of boron using low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) has been investigated on planar and deep reactive ion etched (DRIE) Si substrates. Deposition rate and conformal coverage have been studied. Additional studies of “dry” RIE etching and “wet” chemical etching of the deposited boron films are presented. Deposition rates as high as 1 μm/hr and conformal coverage ratios of ~80% have been achieved. Etching rates for various methods studied range widely from 0.35 μm/hr to 1.2 μm/min.