Paper SE+PS+TF-MoA2
Triple Langmuir Probe and Ion Fraction Measurements in an Industrial PVD Deposition System

Monday, November 10, 2014, 2:20 pm, Room 302

High Power Pulsed Magnetron Sputtering (HPPMS) discharges are an ideal candidate for the next generation PVD magnetron sputtering systems. Compared with traditional DC sputtering, HPPMS discharges offer high degree of ionization of the sputtered material with very high peak power on the target. An industrial size chamber will be used to investigate the HPPMS discharge operation in full scale production environments utilizing different power supplies. Plasma was observed to be originated from the race track region then expanded downward afterwards. Plasma density was very high (~10¹⁹-10²⁰ m^-3) when generated then decreases as it expanded [1] In order to understand the temporal evolution of the plasma between the target and the wafer plane, a time resolved triple Langmuir probe was employed to measure the plasma parameters such as electron temperate and density and scanning in a three dimensional map. Plasma parameters between traditional DC discharge and HPPMS discharge will be compared. Quartz crystal microbalance and 2 inch gridded energy analyzer will be designed to determine fluxes of metal ions, metal atoms and argon ions. The setup will be able to tilt around 10 degrees about the wafer plane in 1 degree intervals and measure the angular distribution of the ion and neutral fluxes generated by the HPPMS discharge.

Reference:

[1] H.Yu, L. Meng, M. Szott, J. McLain, T.S. Cho, D.N. Ruzic, Investigation and optimization of the magnetic field configuration in high-power impulse magnetron sputtering, Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 22 045012, 2013