Studies of Electron Behavior in Magnetic Neutral-Loop Discharge (NLD) Plasmas for Processing Applications

用于加工应用的磁中性环路放电 (NLD) 等离子体中电子行为的研究

基本信息

批准号：
08558045
负责人：
MURAOKA Katsunori
金额：
$ 8.51万
依托单位：
KYUSHU UNIVERSITY
依托单位国家：
日本
项目类别：
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)
财政年份：
1996
资助国家：
日本
起止时间：
1996 至 1998
项目状态：
已结题

项目摘要

In this project, the formation mechanism of a magnetic neutral-loop discharge (NLD) plasma was studied theoretically and experimentally. Also, application possibilities of the NLD plasma were studied.Electron behavior in the NLD plasma was theoretically modeled using a two-dimensional electromagnetic field configuration. The model predicted that the electron motion around the neutral loop (NL) became chaotic, and electrons could be effectively heated by the rf electric field in the collisionless low pressure regime. Then, the electron behavior was examined experimentally. The experimental results showed that the energy deposition to electrons in the vicinity of the NL played an essential role in the formation of the NLD plasma. This result was consistent with the prediction of the two-dimensional model. However, the dependence of the plasma production efficiency on the gradient of the magnetic field strength showed disagreement between the experiment and the model. The model predicted … More that plasma production became more efficient for a smaller magnetic field gradient. On the other hand, the experimental results showed the existence of an optimum value of the magnetic field gradient. In order to improve the situation, a new model which included effects of the three-dimensional electromagnetic field configuration, a spatially varied rf electric field and electron collisions with neutral particles was proposed. The model gave optimum values of the magnetic field strength for given discharge conditions, and those predictions were found to be consistent with experimental results. In conclusion, the model gives a guideline for the design of NLD plasma devices.NLD plasmas were successfully applied to a high-rate etch process with satisfactory uniformity. In the application to the SiO_2 etch process, an etch rate of about 1 mum/min was obtained. When the hole pattern was etched, the etched profile was almost vertical. These results were found to be superior to the etching results using an inductively coupled plasma. In order to open sputtering applications, an NLD plasma based on capacitive coupling was proposed and a prototype device was designed. Less

在该项目中，对理论和实验研究了磁中性环（NLD）血浆的形成机理。同样，NLD等离子体的应用可能性是研究的。NLD等离子体中的电子行为是使用二维电子场配置对理论上建模的。该模型预测，中性环（NL）周围的电子运动变得混乱，并且可以在无碰撞低压状态下的RF电场有效地加热电子。然后，通过实验检查电子行为。实验结果表明，NL附近电子的能量沉积在NLD血浆的形成中起着至关重要的作用。该结果与二维模型的预测一致。但是，血浆生产效率对磁场强度梯度的依赖性在实验和模型之间表明分歧。该模型预测……对于较小的磁场梯度而言，血浆产生变得更有效。另一方面，实验结果表明存在磁场梯度的最佳值。为了改善情况，提出了一个新模型，其中包括三维电子场构型的效果，提出了空间变化的RF电场和具有中性颗粒的电子碰撞。该模型在给定放电条件下给出了磁场强度的最佳值，并且发现这些预测与实验结果一致。总之，该模型给出了NLD等离子体设备设计的指南。NLD等离子体成功地应用于具有满意度均匀性的高速蚀刻过程。在应用于SIO_2蚀刻过程的应用中，获得了约1妈妈/min的蚀刻速率。当孔图蚀刻时，蚀刻的轮廓几乎是垂直的。发现使用电感耦合等离子体，这些结果优于蚀刻结果。为了打开溅射应用程序，提出了基于电容耦合的NLD等离子体，并设计了原型设备。较少的