Publication
Title
Numerical investigation of HBr/He transformer coupled plasmas used for silicon etching
Author
Abstract
A two-dimensional hybrid Monte Carlofluid model is applied to study HBr/He inductively coupled plasmas used for etching of Si. Complete sets of gas-phase and surface reactions are presented and the effects of the gas mixing ratio on the plasma characteristics and on the etch rates are discussed. A comparison with experimentally measured etch rates is made to validate the modelling results. The etch rate in the HBr plasma is found to be quite low under the investigated conditions compared to typical etch rates of Si with F- or Cl-containing gases. This allows for a higher control and fine-tuning of the etch rate when creating ultra-small features. Our calculations predict a higher electron temperature at higher He fraction, because the electrons do not lose their energy so efficiently in vibrational and rotational excitations. As a consequence, electron impact ionization and dissociation become more important, yielding higher densities of ions, electrons and H atoms. This results in more pronounced sputtering of the surface. Nevertheless, the overall etch rate decreases upon increasing He fraction, suggesting that chemical etching is still the determining factor for the overall etch rate.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Journal of physics: D: applied physics. - London
Publication
London : 2015
ISSN
0022-3727
DOI
10.1088/0022-3727/48/2/025202
Volume/pages
48 :2 (2015) , 9 p.
Article Reference
025202
ISI
000347980100011
Medium
E-only publicatie
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Project info
CalcUA as central calculation facility: supporting core facilities.
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 16.12.2014
Last edited 22.01.2024
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