| AVS 59th Annual International Symposium and Exhibition | |
| Plasma Science and Technology | Thursday Sessions |
| Session PS-ThA |
| Session: | Plasma Sources |
| Presenter: | W.Y. Li, University of Wisconsin-Madison |
| Authors: | W.Y. Li, University of Wisconsin-Madison Z. Ling, University of Wisconsin-Madison H.-Z. Zhang, University of Wisconsin-Madison J.A. Bray, University of Wisconsin-Madison T.M. Griffin, University of Wisconsin-Madison M.T. Nichols, University of Wisconsin-Madison B.N. Moon, Kyungsung University, Korea Y.M. Sung, Kyungsung University, Korea S. Banna, Applied Materials, Inc. Y. Nishi, Stanford University J.L. Shohet, University of Wisconsin-Madison |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
Since the magnetic Neutral-Loop Discharge (NLD) plasma was first proposed by Uchida et al. [1], its properties and usage have been investigated by a number of researchers. In this work, we design an NLD reactor to investigate the response of low-k dielectric materials to plasma exposure. Moreover, the NLD reactor will be used to compare the properties of its plasma to that of conventional inductively and capacitively coupled plasma reactors. The NLD reactor is located inside of a set of cylindrical magnet coils which at first glance appears to be a simple solenoid. However, the magnet current in the center of the solenoid is reversed from that near the ends of the solenoid which causes the field in the central solenoid to reverse from that in the outer solenoids. By carefully adjusting the coil currents, a circular region of zero magnetic field can be generated underneath the center solenoid—the neutral loop. The shape of the NLD magnetic fields was numerically evaluated and experimentally confirmed. Numerical calculations of particle orbits show the effect of the neutral-loop zero-field region. A region of electron cyclotron resonance appears around the neutral loop. By adjusting the currents, the radius of the neutral loop can be controlled to move closer or farther from the central axis of the reactor.
This work has been supported by Semiconductor Research Corporation under Contract No. 2008-KJ-1781 and by the National Science Foundation under Grant CBET-1066231.
[1] T. Uchida, "Application of radio-frequency discharged plasma produced in closed magnetic neutral line for plasma processing," 33, L43-L44 (1994).