Methods for etching dielectric materials

1. A method of etching a dielectric material in a reaction chamber of a plasma etch reactor, comprising:

a) placing a substrate comprising a dielectric material on a substrate support in a reaction chamber of a plasma etch reactor, the reaction chamber containing a lower electrode and a showerhead electrode assembly including a silicon upper electrode having a minimum thickness of at least about 0.27 inch;

b) introducing a process gas into the reaction chamber;

c) applying a selected power level to the upper electrode:

d) transferring heat from an edge portion of the upper electrode;

e) generating a plasma from the process gas in the reaction chamber; and

f) etching the dielectric material with the plasma.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the maximum thickness of the upper electrode is from about 0.3 inch to about 0.4 inch.

3. A method of etching a dielectric material in a reaction chamber of a plasma etch reactor, comprising:

placing a substrate comprising a dielectric material in a reaction chamber of a plasma etch reactor, the reaction chamber containing a lower electrode and a stepped silicon upper electrode having a minimum thickness of at least about 0.27 inch;

introducing process gas into the reaction chamber;

generating a plasma from the process gas in the reaction chamber; and

etching the dielectric material with the plasma.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the upper electrode is of single crystal silicon.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the upper electrode has a service life of at least about 250 RF hours at the selected power level.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the selected power level is at least about 1,250 watts.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the dielectric material has a thickness of at least about 5,000 Å and the dielectric material is etched for at least about 1 minute with the plasma.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the dielectric material is silicon oxide or silicon nitride.

9. A method of etching a dielectric material in a reaction chamber of a plasma etch reactor, comprising:

placing a substrate comprising a dielectric material in a reaction chamber of a plasma etch reactor, the reaction chamber containing a lower electrode and a silicon upper electrode having a minimum thickness of at least about 0.27 inch;

introducing process gas into the reaction chamber;

generating a elasma from the process gas in the reaction chamber;

conducting heat from the upper electrode only at an edue portion of the upper electrode; and

etching the dielectric material with the plasma.

10. The method of claim 3 , wherein the upper electrode is in a showerhead electrode assembly.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising etching a plurality of different substrates during the service life of the upper electrode.

12. The method of claim 1 , comprising applying RF power at a first frequency to the upper electrode and applying RF power at a second frequency lower than the first frequency to the lower electrode.

13. The method of claim 1 , comprising applying RF power at two different frequencies to the lower electrode.

14. A method of etching a dielectric material in a reaction chamber of a plasma etch reactor, comprising:

placing a substrate comprising a dielectric material on a substrate support in a reaction chamber of a plasma etch reactor, the reaction chamber containing a lower electrode and a showerhead electrode assembly including a silicon upper electrode having a minimum thickness of at least about 0.27 inch;

introducing a process gas into the reaction chamber;

generating a plasma from the process gas in the reaction chamber; and

etching the dielectric material with the plasma.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the minimum thickness of the upper electrode is from about 0.3 inch to about 0.4 inch.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the upper electrode is a stepped electrode.

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein the upper electrode has a service life of at least about 250 RF hours.

18. The method of claim 14 , wherein the dielectric material is etched for from about 2 minutes to about 5 minutes with the plasma.

19. The method of claim 14 , wherein the dielectric material is silicon oxide or silicon nitride.

20. The method of claim 14 , wherein heat is conducted from the upper electrode only at an edge portion of the upper electrode.

21. The method of claim 9 , wherein the upper electrode is in a showerhead electrode assembly.

22. The method of claim 14 , further comprising etching a plurality of different substrates in the reaction chamber.

23. The method of claim 14 , comprising applying RF power at a first frequency to the upper electrode and applying RE power at a second frequency lower than the first frequency to the lower electrode.

24. The method of claim 14 , comprising applying RF power at two different frequencies to the lower electrode.

25. A method of etching a dielectric material in a reaction chamber of a plasma etch reactor, comprising:

placing a substrate comprising silicon oxide or silicon nitride on a substrate support in a reaction chamber of a plasma etch reactor;

introducing a fluorine-containing process gas into the reaction chamber with a showerhead electrode assembly, the showerhead electrode assembly including a single crystal silicon upper electrode having a minimum thickness of at least about 0.3 inch and a lower electrode;

generating a plasma from the process gas in the reaction chamber; and

etching the silicon oxide or silicon nitride with the plasma.

26. The method of claim 25 , wherein the upper electrode has a service life of about 250 hours.

27. The method of claim 25 , wherein the upper electrode has a minimum thickness of from about 0.3 inch to about 0.4 inch prior to being worn by erosion in the reaction chamber.

28. The method of claim 25 , comprising applying RF power at a first frequency to the upper electrode and applying RF power at a second frequency lower than the first frequency to the lower electrode.

29. The method of claim 25 , comprising applying RF power at two different frequencies to the lower electrode.