Abstract:The importance of plasma diagnostics at semiconductor equipment manufacturers has
increased steadily over the past decade. The design and procurement of advanced etching
tools now require a full host of plasma diagnostics and modeling capability. Examples of
these activities at a semiconductor equipment manufacturer will be given, with specifics
of significant and useful results. Examples include the development and optimization of
an inductive plasma source, trend analysis and hardware eff… Show more
“…Plasma‐aided material processing in the semiconductor industry requires the production of large diameter homogeneous discharges with high ion densities and reactive species concentrations and with low electron temperatures. Plasma diagnostics plays the essential role in the development and optimization of plasma processing tools 2–4. One of the fundamental questions in research on plasma processing is the determination of such plasma parameters as electron temperature ( T e ), electron number density ( n e ), positive and negative ions number densities ( n + , n − ), and electron energy distribution function (EEDF).…”
Summary: A comparison of inductively coupled plasma (ICP) and microwave plasma sources was carried out under the same discharge conditions, in the same discharge chamber, and using the same diagnostics method. Investigations were fulfilled over a wide range of external discharge parameters (at pressures 0.5–20 mTorr and for powers deposited in the plasma at 400–1 500 W) in boron trifluoride and in argon discharges. A variety of plasma parameters (Te, ne, n+, EEDF) and their radial profiles at a 2 cm distance above a wafer holder were determined by using a single Langmuir probe technique. Analysis of measurements has shown that the charged particle concentrations in the ICP are higher than are obtainable in a microwave discharge, for a deposited power at 1.2 kW the ICP source produced an ion number density of ∼1012 cm−3. The required plasma uniformity can be maintained in ICP over a wider range of external discharge parameters than in microwave plasma. The use of microwave plasma source gives a bi‐Maxwellian type EEDF, whereas the EEDF of ICP is close to the single Maxwellian distribution with an electron temperature higher than the temperature of cold electrons in microwave discharge. BF3 plasma is electronegative, with a degree of electronegativity of ∼0.3–0.5 for both plasma sources.
“…Plasma‐aided material processing in the semiconductor industry requires the production of large diameter homogeneous discharges with high ion densities and reactive species concentrations and with low electron temperatures. Plasma diagnostics plays the essential role in the development and optimization of plasma processing tools 2–4. One of the fundamental questions in research on plasma processing is the determination of such plasma parameters as electron temperature ( T e ), electron number density ( n e ), positive and negative ions number densities ( n + , n − ), and electron energy distribution function (EEDF).…”
Summary: A comparison of inductively coupled plasma (ICP) and microwave plasma sources was carried out under the same discharge conditions, in the same discharge chamber, and using the same diagnostics method. Investigations were fulfilled over a wide range of external discharge parameters (at pressures 0.5–20 mTorr and for powers deposited in the plasma at 400–1 500 W) in boron trifluoride and in argon discharges. A variety of plasma parameters (Te, ne, n+, EEDF) and their radial profiles at a 2 cm distance above a wafer holder were determined by using a single Langmuir probe technique. Analysis of measurements has shown that the charged particle concentrations in the ICP are higher than are obtainable in a microwave discharge, for a deposited power at 1.2 kW the ICP source produced an ion number density of ∼1012 cm−3. The required plasma uniformity can be maintained in ICP over a wider range of external discharge parameters than in microwave plasma. The use of microwave plasma source gives a bi‐Maxwellian type EEDF, whereas the EEDF of ICP is close to the single Maxwellian distribution with an electron temperature higher than the temperature of cold electrons in microwave discharge. BF3 plasma is electronegative, with a degree of electronegativity of ∼0.3–0.5 for both plasma sources.
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