Records |
Author |
Vanraes, P.; Parayil Venugopalan, S.; Besemer, M.; Bogaerts, A. |
Title |
Assessing neutral transport mechanisms in aspect ratio dependent etching by means of experiments and multiscale plasma modeling |
Type |
A1 Journal Article |
Year |
2023 |
Publication |
Plasma Sources Science and Technology |
Abbreviated Journal |
Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. |
Volume |
32 |
Issue |
6 |
Pages |
064004 |
Keywords |
A1 Journal Article; Plasma, laser ablation and surface modeling Antwerp (PLASMANT) ; |
Abstract ![sorted by Abstract field, ascending order (up)](img/sort_asc.gif) |
Since the onset of pattern transfer technologies for chip manufacturing, various strategies have been developed to circumvent or overcome aspect ratio dependent etching (ARDE). These methods have, however, their own limitations in terms of etch non-idealities, throughput or costs. Moreover, they have mainly been optimized for individual in-device features and die-scale patterns, while occasionally ending up with poor patterning of metrology marks, affecting the alignment and overlay in lithography. Obtaining a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms of ARDE and how to mitigate them therefore remains a relevant challenge to date, for both marks and advanced nodes. In this work, we accordingly assessed the neutral transport mechanisms in ARDE by means of experiments and multiscale modeling for SiO<sub>2</sub>etching with CHF<sub>3</sub>/Ar and CF<sub>4</sub>/Ar plasmas. The experiments revealed a local maximum in the etch rate for an aspect ratio around unity, i.e. the simultaneous occurrence of regular and inverse reactive ion etching lag for a given etch condition. We were able to reproduce this ARDE trend in the simulations without taking into account charging effects and the polymer layer thickness, suggesting shadowing and diffuse reflection of neutrals as the primary underlying mechanisms. Subsequently, we explored four methods with the simulations to regulate ARDE, by varying the incident plasma species fluxes, the amount of polymer deposition, the ion energy and angular distribution and the initial hardmask sidewall angle, for which the latter was found to be promising in particular. Although our study focusses on feature dimensions characteristic to metrology marks and back-end-of-the-line integration, the obtained insights have a broader relevance, e.g. to the patterning of advanced nodes. Additionally, this work supports the insight that physisorption may be more important in plasma etching at room temperature than originally thought, in line with other recent studies, a topic on which we recommend further research. |
Address |
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Corporate Author |
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Thesis |
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Publisher |
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Place of Publication |
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Editor |
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Language |
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Wos |
001021250100001 |
Publication Date |
2023-06-01 |
Series Editor |
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Series Title |
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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 |
ISBN |
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Additional Links |
UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles |
Impact Factor |
3.8 |
Times cited |
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Open Access |
Not_Open_Access |
Notes |
P Vanraes acknowledges funding by ASML for the project ‘Computational simulation of plasma etching of trench structures’. P Vanraes and A Bogaerts want to express their gratitude to Mark J Kushner (University of Michigan) for the sharing of the HPEM and MCFPM codes, and for the interesting exchange of views. P Vanraes wishes to thank Violeta Georgieva and Stefan Tinck for the fruitful discussions on the HPEM code, Yu-Ru Zhang for an example of the CCP reactor code and Karel Venken for his technical help with the server maintenance and use. S P Venugopalan and M Besemer wish to thank Luigi Scaccabarozzi, Sander Wuister, Coen Verschuren, Michael Kubis, Kuan-Ming Chen, Ruben Maas, Huaichen Zhang and Julien Mailfert (ASML) for the insightful discussions. |
Approved |
Most recent IF: 3.8; 2023 IF: 3.302 |
Call Number |
PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:197760 |
Serial |
8811 |
Permanent link to this record |
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Author |
Vanraes, P.; Parayil Venugopalan, S.; Bogaerts, A. |
Title |
Multiscale modeling of plasma–surface interaction—General picture and a case study of Si and SiO2etching by fluorocarbon-based plasmas |
Type |
A1 Journal Article |
Year |
2021 |
Publication |
Applied Physics Reviews |
Abbreviated Journal |
Appl Phys Rev |
Volume |
8 |
Issue |
4 |
Pages |
041305 |
Keywords |
A1 Journal Article; Plasma, laser ablation and surface modeling Antwerp (PLASMANT) ; |
Abstract ![sorted by Abstract field, ascending order (up)](img/sort_asc.gif) |
The physics and chemistry of plasma–surface interaction is a broad domain relevant to various applications and several natural processes, including plasma etching for microelectronics fabrication, plasma deposition, surface functionalization, nanomaterial synthesis, fusion reactors, and some astrophysical and meteorological phenomena. Due to their complex nature, each of these processes is generally investigated in separate subdomains, which are considered to have their own theoretical, modeling, and experimental challenges. In this review, however, we want to emphasize the overarching nature of plasma–surface interaction physics and chemistry, by focusing on the general strategy for its computational simulation. In the first half of the review, we provide a menu card with standard and less standardized computational methods to be used for the multiscale modeling of the underlying processes. In the second half, we illustrate the benefits and potential of the multiscale modeling strategy with a case study of Si and SiO2 etching by fluorocarbon plasmas and identify the gaps in knowledge still present on this intensely investigated plasma–material combination, both on a qualitative and quantitative level. Remarkably, the dominant etching mechanisms remain the least understood. The resulting new insights are of general relevance, for all plasmas and materials, including their various applications. We therefore hope to motivate computational and experimental scientists and engineers to collaborate more intensely on filling the existing gaps in knowledge. In this way, we expect that research will overcome a bottleneck stage in the development and optimization of multiscale models, and thus the fundamental understanding of plasma–surface interaction. |
Address |
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Corporate Author |
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Thesis |
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Publisher |
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Place of Publication |
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Editor |
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Language |
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Wos |
000754799700001 |
Publication Date |
2021-10-07 |
Series Editor |
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Series Title |
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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 |
1931-9401 |
ISBN |
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Additional Links |
UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles |
Impact Factor |
13.667 |
Times cited |
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Open Access |
OpenAccess |
Notes |
Asml; P. Vanraes acknowledges funding by ASML for the project “Computational simulation of plasma etching of trench structures.” P. Vanraes wishes to thank Violeta Georgieva and Stefan Tinck for the fruitful discussions on the HPEM code, Yu-Ru Zhang for an example of the CCP reactor code, and Karel Venken for his technical help with the server maintenance and use. P. Vanraes and A. Bogaerts want to express their gratitude to Mark J. Kushner (University of Michigan) for the sharing of the HPEM and MCFPM codes and for the interesting exchange of views. S. P. Venugopalan wishes to thank Sander Wuister, Coen Verschuren, Michael Kubis, Mohammad Kamali, |
Approved |
Most recent IF: 13.667 |
Call Number |
PLASMANT @ plasmant @c:irua:183287 |
Serial |
6814 |
Permanent link to this record |