AVS 51st International Symposium
    MEMS and NEMS Tuesday Sessions
       Session MN+MS+PS+TF-TuA

Paper MN+MS+PS+TF-TuA3
Low-Pressure and Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition Modeling at the Feature Length Scale of MEMS Devices

Tuesday, November 16, 2004, 2:00 pm, Room 213C

Session: Nano/MEMS Manufacturing and Plasmas
Presenter: L.C. Musson, Sandia National Laboratories
Authors: L.C. Musson, Sandia National Laboratories
P. Ho, Reaction Design
R.C. Schmidt, Sandia National Laboratories
Correspondent: Click to Email
Theoretical modeling of the surface chemistry and concomitant surface evolution during MEMS fabrication processes has great potential for improving surface micromachining (SMM) process technologies. A greater understanding of the fundamental factors leading to surface non-uniformities and other non-ideal geometric artifacts can lead to better device designs and assist in process optimization. We are developing ChISELS, a parallel code to model material deposition and etch processes at the feature scale. ChISELS uses the level-set method which was chosen for its natural ability to handle substantial changes in topology that occur when fabricating MEMS devices. We describe the algorithm by which the surface is evolved in process models, the transport model, the tools used for modeling chemical reactions and dynamic balancing of the computational load in a parallel environment. The capabilities of the ChISELS code are demonstrated by models of low-pressure deposition of SiO2 from TEOS and from a silane/oxygen/argon plasma. The uniformity of deposition into various geometries has been studied and will be presented in both 2-D and 3-D models. Some comparisons between the predicted deposition geometries and experimental SEMs will also be shown.