Etching of silicon dioxide in off-electrode plasma using a chrome mask

We discuss results of etching a Cr-SiO2 structure is in a flow of off-electrode gas-discharge plasma in a CF4 + O2 gas at a ratio of 50: 1, at the discharge current I = 80 mA, accelerating voltage U = 1.2 kV, and process duration t = 5 min. It was shown that changes in the intensity of Raman spectral bands in the course of etching correspond to nanoscale changes in the thin Cr-SiO2 films and a chrome mask. The peculiarity of the etching process consists in the removal of the Cr2O3 oxide with increasing amount of nitrogen molecules in the structure of the Cr film. It was found that spray products deposited inside the chrome mask windows at U = 1.2 kV and I = 80 mA are in the form of Cr2N, according to their Raman spectra.