Wet etching of amorphous TiO₂ thin films using H ₃PO₄-H₂O₂ aqueous solution

We report on the wet etching of amorphous undoped and Nb-doped TiO2 thin films using H3PO4-H2O2 etching solution. The etching rate (R) showed a maximum at a H3PO4 concentration of approximately 50 wt% at 80 °C, suggesting that H2PO4 and/or H3O+ is responsible for the etching reaction. The addition of H2O2 to H3PO4 solution significantly enhanced R, and an optimized solution exhibited an R of 13 nm/min at 80 °C, which is one order of magnitude higher than that using H2SO4. These results demonstrate that H3PO4-H2O2 aqueous solution is an effective etchant for TiO2-based amorphous thin films.