Statistical insights into the reaction of fluorine atoms with silicon

The dependences of silicon etching rate on the concentration of F atoms are investigated theoretically. The nonlinear regression analysis of the experimental data indicates that the reaction of F atoms with silicon is 2nd overall order reaction. The relationship between overall reaction order and kinetic reaction order is established using the etching rate equation. It is found that kinetic reaction order monotonically decreases with the increase in concentration of F atoms due to the increased surface coverage. Surface passivation by the reaction products is not observed under the investigated experimental conditions.