CF₄

Tetrafluoromethane — also known as carbon tetrafluoride or R-14 — is a chemically stable, non-flammable perfluorocarbon (PFC) gas with an extremely low boiling point of −127.8 °C. Its exceptional thermal and chemical stability, combined with a high ionization energy, makes it one of the most widely used etch gases in semiconductor plasma processing. CF₄ dissociates in a plasma environment to generate reactive fluorine radicals (F·) and CF₃⁺ ions that aggressively etch silicon-based materials with high selectivity and controllable anisotropy.

In dry etch applications, CF₄ is employed for patterning silicon, polysilicon, silicon dioxide, and silicon nitride — covering gate, isolation, and inter-layer dielectric (ILD) etch steps across DRAM, NAND flash, and advanced logic technologies. It is also a primary chamber-clean gas in PECVD tools, where plasma-activated CF₄ removes deposited silicon nitride and oxide residues between wafer runs, maintaining tool throughput and film quality. Semiconductor-grade CF₄ (99.999% min.) must meet strict specifications for moisture (< 1 ppmv), oxygen (< 1 ppmv), and total hydrocarbons to avoid contamination of gate stacks and thin dielectric films.

Beyond semiconductor fabrication, CF₄ is used as a calibration gas for atmospheric infrared spectroscopy monitoring, as a component in specialty gas mixtures for excimer laser operation, and in low-temperature cryogenic research. Airocean Gases supplies semiconductor-grade CF₄ in a full range of cylinder sizes with lot-traceable certificates of analysis, ultra-clean fill procedures, and rapid delivery across North America to support both R&D laboratories and high-volume production fabs.