High Density Plasma Sources

This book describes the design, physics, and performance of high density plasma sources which have been extensively explored in low pressure plasma processing, such as plasma etching and planarization, plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition of thin films, sputtered deposition of metals and dielectrics, epitaxial growth of silicon and GaAs, and many other applications. This is a comprehensive survey and a detailed description of most advanced high density plasma sources used in plasma processing. The book is a balanced presentation in that it gives both a theoretical treatment and practical applications. It should be of considerable interest to scientists and engineers working on plasma source design, and process development.

This book presents a comprehensive description of the most promising high density plasma sources operated at low and intermediate pressures which are used, or could be used, in plasma processing such as etching and deposition. The authors are the leading experts in the field who are original inventors and designers of plasma sources they describe in this book. This book gives a balanced treatment of both the theoretical aspects and practical applications. It should be of considerable interest to scientists and engineers working on plasma source designs and process developments.

This latest volume of the well-known Physics of Thin Films Series includes four chapters that discuss high-density plasma sources for materials processing, electron cyclotron resonance and its uses, unbalancedmagnetron sputtering, and particle formation in thin film processing plasma. Chapter One develops a unified framework from which all "high-efficiency" sources may be viewed and compared; outlines key elements of source design affecting processing results; and highlights areas where additional research and development are needed Chapter Two reviews and analyzes the main types of electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma sources suitable for ECR PACVD of thin films, mainly ECR sources using magnet coils Chapter Three examines the benefits and limitations of the new technique, unbalanced magnetron sputtering (UBM), along with the motivation for its development, the basic principles of its operation and commercial applications, and some speculations regarding the future of UBM technology Chapter Four describes general phenomena observed in connection with particle formation in thin film processing plasmas; discusses particles in PECVD plasmas, sputtering plasmas, and RIE plasmas; presents an overview of the theoretical modeling of various aspects of particles in processing plasmas; examines issues of equipment design affecting particle formation; and concludes with remarks about the implications of this work for the control of process-induced particle contamination

This latest volume of the well-known Physics of Thin Films Series includes four chapters that discuss high-density plasma sources for materials processing, electron cyclotron resonance and its uses, unbalancedmagnetron sputtering, and particle formation in thin film processing plasma.

This book highlights a high-density helicon plasma source produced by radio frequency excitation in the presence of magnetic fields, which has attracted considerable attention thanks to its wide applicability in various fields, from basic science to industrial use. Presenting specific applications such as plasma thrusters, nuclear fusion, and plasma processing, it offers a review of modern helicon plasma science for a broad readership. The book covers a wide range of topics, including the fundamental physics of helicon plasma and their cutting-edge applications, based on his abundant and broad experience from low to high temperature plasmas, using various linear magnetized machines and nuclear fusion ones such as tokamaks and reversed field pinches. It first provides a brief overview of the field and a crash course on the fundamentals of plasma, including miscellaneous diagnostics, for advanced undergraduate and early graduate students in plasma science, and presents the basics of helicon plasma for beginners in the field. Further, digesting advanced application topics is also useful for experts to have a quick overview of extensive helicon plasma science research.

Recent research has brought the application of microwaves from the classical fields of heating, communication, and generation of plasma discharges into the generation of compact plasmas that can be used for applications such as FIB and small plasma thrusters. However, these new applications bring with them a new set of challenges. With coverage ranging from the basics to new and emerging applications, Compact Plasma and Focused Ion Beams discusses how compact high-density microwave plasmas with dimensions smaller than the geometrical cutoff dimension can be generated and utilized for providing focused ion beams of various elements. Starting with the fundamentals of the cutoff problem for wave propagation in waveguides and plasma diagnostics, the author goes on to explain in detail the plasma production by microwaves in a compact geometry and narrow tubes. He then thoroughly discusses wave interaction with bounded plasmas and provides a deeper understanding of the physics. The book concludes with an up-to-date account of recent research on pulsed microwaves and the application of compact microwave plasmas for multi-element FIB. It provides a consolidated and unified description of the emerging areas in plasma science and technology utilizing wave-based plasma sources based on the author’s own work and experience. The book will be useful not only to established researchers in this area but will also serve as an excellent introduction to those interested in applying these ideas to various current and new applications.

This book draws together three areas of work on plasma technologies: advanced efforts based on wave generated, high frequency plasmas, plasma assisted ion implantation, and electron beam generated plasma. It lays a foundation for the application of sources in industry and various research areas

Pattern transfer by dry etching and plasma-enhanced chemical vapor de position are two of the cornerstone techniques for modern integrated cir cuit fabrication. The success of these methods has also sparked interest in their application to other techniques, such as surface-micromachined sen sors, read/write heads for data storage and magnetic random access memory (MRAM). The extremely complex chemistry and physics of plasmas and their interactions with the exposed surfaces of semiconductors and other materi als is often overlooked at the manufacturing stage. In this case, the process is optimized by an informed "trial-and-error" approach which relies heavily on design-of-experiment techniques and the intuition of the process engineer. The need for regular cleaning of plasma reactors to remove built-up reaction or precursor gas products adds an extra degree of complexity because the interaction of the reactive species in the plasma with the reactor walls can also have a strong effect on the number of these species available for etching or deposition. Since the microelectronics industry depends on having high process yields at each step of the fabrication process, it is imperative that a full understanding of plasma etching and deposition techniques be achieved.