IUVSTA 15th International Vacuum Congress (IVC-15), AVS 48th International Symposium (AVS-48), 11th International Conference on Solid Surfaces (ICSS-11)
    Plasma Science Wednesday Sessions
       Session PS-WeA

Paper PS-WeA10
A Fast Computational Model for Study of Coupled Bulk Plasma-Sheath-Bias Circuit Phenomena and its Effect on Plasma-Surface Interactions

Wednesday, October 31, 2001, 5:00 pm, Room 104

Session: Plasma Surface Interactions II
Presenter: L.L. Raja, Colorado School of Mines
Authors: L.L. Raja, Colorado School of Mines
E. Meeks, Reaction Design, Inc.
Correspondent: Click to Email

High-density plasma reactors are used extensively in the etching and deposition of thin films in the manufacture of large-scale integrated circuits. With feature sizes approaching 0.1 microns and lower, it is increasingly important to develop quantitative understanding of plasma-surface interactions and their dependence on plasma reactor geometry, operating conditions, and bias-circuit settings. Of critical importance is the relationship between reactor controls and ion impact phenomena such as the Ion Energy and Angular Distribution Functions (IEDF and IADF). We have developed a new fast computational software tool that enables prediction of IEDF and IADF in high-density plasma reactors through coupling of bulk plasma, RF sheath, and bias circuit models. We simulate the bulk plasma using the well mixed reactor model, AURORA,@footnote 1@ while the RF sheath sub-model uses a multiple-ion extension of the Riley sheath model@footnote 2,3@ coupled to a typical bias circuit model, based on first-principles. The coupled model handles detailed gas-phase chemical reactions that are characteristic of process plasmas and can predict multiple ion IEDFs and IADFs as a function of reactor geometry, and reactor and bias circuit settings. The general surface-chemistry capability allows for specification of ion-energy dependent yields for ion-enhanced surface reactions. The coupled model executes within minutes on a personal computer, providing a fast simulation tool for quickly exploring alternative process conditions and reactor designs. Example results in a fluorocarbon plasma etching system will be reported. @FootnoteText@ @footnote 1@R. J. Kee, F. M. Rupley, J. A. Miller, M. E. Coltrin, J. F. Grcar, E. Meeks, H. K. Moffat, A. E. Lutz, et al., Chemkin Collection 3.6, (Reaction Design, Inc., San Diego, CA, 2000) @footnote 2@M. E. Riley, Sandia National Laboratories Report No. SAND95-0775, 1995. @footnote 3@M. E. Riley, Sandia National Laboratories Report No. SAND96-1948, 1996.