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Author |
Tinck, S.; Bogaerts, A. |
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Title |
Computational study of the CF4 /CHF3 / H2 /Cl2 /O2 /HBr gas phase plasma chemistry |
Type |
A1 Journal article |
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Year  |
2016 |
Publication |
Journal of physics: D: applied physics |
Abbreviated Journal |
J Phys D Appl Phys |
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Volume |
49 |
Issue |
49 |
Pages |
195203 |
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Keywords |
A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT) |
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Abstract |
A modelling study is performed of high-density low-pressure inductively coupled CF4/CHF3/H2/Cl2/O2/HBr plasmas under different gas mixing ratios. A reaction set describing the complete plasma chemistry is presented and discussed. The gas fraction of each component in this mixture is varied to investigate the sensitivity of the plasma properties, like electron density, plasma potential and species densities, towards the gas mixing ratios. This research is of great interest for microelectronics applications because these gases are often combined in two (or more)-component mixtures, and mixing gases or changing the fraction of a gas can sometimes yield unwanted reaction products or unexpected changes in the overall plasma properties due to the increased chemical complexity of the system. Increasing the CF4 fraction produces more F atoms for chemical etching as expected, but also more prominently lowers the density of Cl atoms, resulting in an actual drop in the etch rate under certain conditions. Furthermore, CF4 decreases the free electron density when mixed with Cl2. However, depending on the other gas components, CF4 gas can also sometimes enhance free electron density. This is the case when HBr is added to the mixture. The addition of H2 to the gas mixture will lower the sputtering process, not only due to the lower overall positive ion density at higher H2 fractions, but also because more H+, H2 + and H3 + are present and they have very low sputter yields. In contrast, a larger Cl2 fraction results in more chemical etching but also in less physical sputtering due to a smaller abundance of positive ions. Increasing the O2 fraction in the plasma will always lower the etch rate due to more oxidation of the wafer surface and due to a lower plasma density. However, it is also observed that the density of F atoms can actually increase with rising O2 gas fraction. This is relevant to note because the exact balance between fluorination and oxidation is important for fine-tuning the overall etch rate and for control of the sidewall profile. Finally, HBr is often used as a chemical etcher, but when mixed with F- or Cl-containing gases, HBr creates the same diluting effects as Ar or He, because a
higher fraction results in less chemical etching but more (physical) sputtering. |
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Wos |
000375255500017 |
Publication Date |
2016-04-13 |
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Abbreviated Series Title |
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Series Issue |
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Edition |
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ISSN |
0022-3727 |
ISBN |
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Additional Links |
UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles |
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Impact Factor |
2.588 |
Times cited |
5 |
Open Access |
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Notes |
We acknowledge the Fund for Scientific Research Flanders (FWO) for financial support of this work. This work was carried out in part using the Turing HPC infrastructure at the CalcUA core facility of the Universiteit Antwerpen, a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Center VSC, funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Government (department EWI) and the University of Antwerp. |
Approved |
Most recent IF: 2.588 |
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Call Number |
c:irua:132890 |
Serial |
4062 |
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Author |
Tinck, S.; Bogaerts, A. |
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Title |
Role of vibrationally excited HBr in a HBr/He inductively coupled plasma used for etching of silicon |
Type |
A1 Journal article |
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Year |
2016 |
Publication |
Journal of physics: D: applied physics |
Abbreviated Journal |
J Phys D Appl Phys |
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Volume |
49 |
Issue |
49 |
Pages |
245204 |
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Keywords |
A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT) |
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Abstract |
In this work, the role of vibrationally excited HBr (HBr(vib)) is computationally investigated for a HBr/He inductively coupled plasma applied for Si etching. It is found that at least 50% of all dissociations of HBr occur through HBr(vib). This additional dissociation pathway through HBr(vib) makes the plasma significantly more atomic. It also results in a slightly higher electron temperature (i.e. about 0.2 eV higher compared to simulation results where HBr(vib) is not included), as well as a higher gas temperature (i.e. about 50 K higher than without including HBr(vib)), due to the enhanced Franck–Condon heating through HBr(vib) dissociation,
at the conditions investigated. Most importantly, the calculated etch rate with HBr(vib) included in the model is a factor 3 higher than in the case without HBr(vib), due to the higher fluxes of etching species (i.e. H and Br), while the chemical composition of the wafer surface shows no significant difference. Our calculations clearly show the importance of including HBr(vib) for accurate modeling of HBr-containing plasmas. |
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Wos |
000377427100020 |
Publication Date |
2016-05-17 |
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Edition |
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ISSN |
0022-3727 |
ISBN |
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Additional Links |
UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles |
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Impact Factor |
2.588 |
Times cited |
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Open Access |
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Notes |
The Fund for Scientific Research Flanders (FWO) is acknowledged for financial support of this work (Grant no. 0880.212.840). This work was carried out in part using the Turing HPC infrastructure at the CalcUA core facility of the Universiteit Antwerpen, a division of the Flemish Supercomputer Center VSC, funded by the Hercules Foundation, the Flemish Government (department EWI) and the University of Antwerp. Prof. Mark Kushner is also gratefully acknowledged for the useful discussions and for providing the HPEM code. |
Approved |
Most recent IF: 2.588 |
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Call Number |
c:irua:133457 |
Serial |
4072 |
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Author |
Tinck, S.; Bogaerts, A. |
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Title |
Modeling SiH4/O2/Ar inductively coupled plasmas used for filling of microtrenches in shallow trench isolation (STI) |
Type |
A1 Journal article |
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Year |
2012 |
Publication |
Plasma processes and polymers |
Abbreviated Journal |
Plasma Process Polym |
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Volume |
9 |
Issue |
5 |
Pages |
522-539 |
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Keywords |
A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT) |
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Abstract |
Modeling results are presented to gain a better insight in the properties of a SiH4/O2/Ar inductively coupled plasma (ICP) and how it interacts with a silicon substrate (wafer), as applied in the microelectronics industry for the fabrication of electronic devices. The SiH4/O2/Ar ICP is used for the filling of microtrenches with isolating material (SiO2), as applied in shallow trench isolation (STI). In this article, a detailed reaction set that describes the plasma chemistry of SiH4/O2/Ar discharges as well as surface processes, such as sputtering, oxidation, and deposition, is presented. Results are presented on the plasma properties during the plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition process (PECVD) for different gas ratios, as well as on the shape of the filled trenches and the surface compositions of the deposited layers. For the operating conditions under study it is found that the most important species accounting for deposition are SiH2, SiH3O, SiH3 and SiH2O, while SiH+2, SiH+3, O+2 and Ar+ are the dominant species for sputtering of the surface. By diluting the precursor gas (SiH4) in the mixture, the deposition rate versus sputtering rate can be controlled for a desired trench filling process. From the calculation results it is clear that a high deposition rate will result in undesired void formation during the trench filling, while a small deposition rate will result in undesired trench bottom and mask damage by sputtering. By varying the SiH4/O2 ratio, the chemical composition of the deposited layer will be influenced. However, even at the highest SiH4/O2 ratio investigated (i.e., 3.2:1; low oxygen content), the bulk deposited layer consists mainly of SiO2, suggesting that low-volatile silane species deposit first and subsequently become oxidized instead of being oxidized first in the plasma before deposition. Finally, it was found that the top surface of the deposited layer contained less oxygen due to preferential sputtering of O atoms, making the top layer more Si-rich. However, this effect is negligible at a SiH4/O2 ratio of 2:1 or lower. |
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Place of Publication |
Weinheim |
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Wos |
000303858100010 |
Publication Date |
2012-03-06 |
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Series Issue |
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Edition |
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ISSN |
1612-8850; |
ISBN |
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Additional Links |
UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles |
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Impact Factor |
2.846 |
Times cited |
5 |
Open Access |
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Notes |
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Approved |
Most recent IF: 2.846; 2012 IF: 3.730 |
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Call Number |
UA @ lucian @ c:irua:99127 |
Serial |
2142 |
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Author |
Tinck, S.; Bogaerts, A. |
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Title |
Computer simulations of an oxygen inductively coupled plasma used for plasma-assisted atomic layer deposition |
Type |
A1 Journal article |
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Year |
2011 |
Publication |
Plasma sources science and technology |
Abbreviated Journal |
Plasma Sources Sci T |
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Volume |
20 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
015008-015008,10 |
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Keywords |
A1 Journal article; Plasma Lab for Applications in Sustainability and Medicine – Antwerp (PLASMANT) |
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Abstract |
In this paper, an O2 inductively coupled plasma used for plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition of Al2O3 thin films is investigated by means of modeling. This work intends to provide more information about basic plasma properties such as species densities and species fluxes to the substrate as a function of power and pressure, which might be hard to measure experimentally. For this purpose, a hybrid model developed by Kushner et al is applied to calculate the plasma characteristics in the reactor volume for different chamber pressures ranging from 1 to 10 mTorr and different coil powers ranging from 50 to 500 W. Density profiles of the various oxygen containing plasma species are reported as well as fluxes to the substrate under various operating conditions. Furthermore, different orientations of the substrate, which can be placed vertically or horizontally in the reactor, are taken into account. In addition, special attention is paid to the recombination process of atomic oxygen on the different reactor walls under the stated operating conditions. From this work it can be concluded that the plasma properties change significantly in different locations of the reactor. The plasma density near the cylindrical coil is high, while it is almost negligible in the neighborhood of the substrate. Ion and excited species fluxes to the substrate are found to be very low and negligible. Finally, the orientation of the substrate has a minor effect on the flux of O2, while it has a significant effect on the flux of O. In the horizontal configuration, the flux of atomic oxygen can be up to one order of magnitude lower than in the vertical configuration. |
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Publisher |
Institute of Physics |
Place of Publication |
Bristol |
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Wos |
000286592200009 |
Publication Date |
2011-01-08 |
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Abbreviated Series Title |
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Series Volume |
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Series Issue |
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Edition |
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ISSN |
0963-0252;1361-6595; |
ISBN |
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Additional Links |
UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles |
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Impact Factor |
3.302 |
Times cited |
11 |
Open Access |
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Notes |
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Approved |
Most recent IF: 3.302; 2011 IF: 2.521 |
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Call Number |
UA @ lucian @ c:irua:85285 |
Serial |
467 |
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