Etch rate converter
Convert etch and deposition rates between nm/min and Å/s, and see how long a layer takes.
That's 2× as fast as sputter deposition, while a plasma etch is 5× faster. A 100 nm layer would take about 1 minutes.
What it means
How fast does it grow?
Rates depend on the material as well as the process, and a recipe that etches oxide quickly may barely touch nitride. That difference is the selectivity.
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Learn
Three things worth knowing
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1 Å/s = 6 nm/min
Ten ångströms to a nanometer, sixty seconds to a minute. Deposition monitors read in Å/s; recipes are written in nm/min.
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Atomic layer deposition counts cycles
ALD adds one atomic layer per cycle, about 0.1 nm, so the rate is set by how fast the chamber can be flushed rather than by any chemistry.
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Rates are not uniform
The middle of a wafer often etches faster than the edge. A quoted rate is an average, and the difference across the wafer is what the process engineer actually fights.
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Background
About etch and deposition rates
Semiconductor layers are not measured while they are made; they are timed. A process running at 100 nm/min makes a 50 nm layer in thirty seconds, so the rate has to be known and stable.
Equipment is often set in ångströms per second, which is a tenth of a nanometer — a scale where one unit is about half an atom.