Paper TF-FrM3
Review and Demonstration of Feature Scale Simulations

Friday, October 25, 2019, 9:00 am, Room A216

Feature-scale simulations (FSS) represent an important tool for modeling of etching, deposition, and implantation processes routinely applied during semiconductor materials processing and device fabrication. Traditionally, FSS uses a combination of Monte Carlo methods with special algorithms for modeling gaseous and solid (in volume and at the surface) species, as well as algorithms for advancing feature profiles and materials composition as a result of reactive interactions of incoming species with solid materials. The mentioned FSS approach, at least at present time, seems to be the only feasible approach to simulate materials processing at the feature-scale level ranging from tens of nanometers to tens of micrometers, while applications of such advanced methods as quantum chemistry or molecular dynamics are still too expensive computationally in spite of highly efficient code parallelization to run on multi-processor computers. Phenomenological description of reactions (chemical and physical) represents a weakness of FSS, as it is very difficult to implement proper sets of reactions valid at different conditions. Here, we discuss an approach used in the FPS3D code [1-5], for simulation of etching, deposition, and implantation with the present focus given to simulation of ALD/CVD processes. Examples include such difficult topics as HAR etching, as well as CVD and ALD. For ALD examples we consider silicon nitride deposition [5] for different chemistries, some of them allowing deposition of a single monolayer per cycle, while others allowing only a fraction of a monolayer to be deposited per cycle.

References:

[1] P. Moroz, IEEE Trans. on Plasma Science, 39 2804 (2011).

[2] P. Moroz, D. J. Moroz, ECS Transactions, 50 61 (2013).

[3] P. Moroz, D. J. Moroz, J. Physics: CS 550 012030 (2014).

[4] P. Moroz, 15^th Int. Conf. on Atomic Layer Deposition, Portland, OR (2015).