AVS 58th Annual International Symposium and Exhibition
    Plasma Science and Technology Division Wednesday Sessions
       Session PS-WeA

Paper PS-WeA2
Remote VHF Source for High Efficiency Plasma Generation

Wednesday, November 2, 2011, 2:20 pm, Room 201

Session: Plasma Sources
Presenter: Dan Carter, Advanced Energy Industries
Authors: D. Carter, Advanced Energy Industries
D.J. Hoffman, Advanced Energy Industries
R. Grilley, Advanced Energy Industries
K. Peterson, Advanced Energy Industries
Correspondent: Click to Email
Remote plasma sources have evolved through the years and have generally been designed around traditional MF/HF frequencies in the 0.5 to 13 MHz range or at microwave frequencies around 2 GHz. Remote plasma sources can offer benefits including high dissociation rates, segregation of ionic and neutral species and reduced damage compared to in-situ generated plasmas. Due to the complexities of operating a microwave discharge or the difficulties achieving and maintaining H-mode ICP coupling, these devices are commonly designed for specific applications, such as chamber cleaning, organic layer ashing or PFC destruction in process effluent. As a result, many existing remote source technologies suffer from operating range and/or scaling constraints and so utilization in processes outside their specified purpose is often restricted.

This paper describes a new remote source technology employing a high efficiency VHF electrostatic coupling method to produce a versatile and robust remote plasma generator. The design approach is shown capable of producing high density discharges across a broad range while operating at relatively low voltages. The concept is scalable and adaptable to most any chemistry used for cleaning, etching and even deposition. This paper describes some of the important design elements incorporated into these new source devices along with early results illustrating a broad performance range exceeding many capabilities of the alternative technologies.