Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
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Introduction to Plasma
Engineering
www.geo.mtu.edu/weather/aurora/
Plasma:
the fourth state of matter
plasma
(electrons+ions) energy
gas
(steam)
solid
(ice)
energy
energy
liquid
(water)
DC Plasma
(AC Fluorescent Lampwhy AC?)
- -
+- -
+- -
- + - + - +- - +- -
- +
+
Argon
- Electron
+ Argon ion
lamp endcap
Also, this is the heart of high
powered gas lasers.
Fluorescent Lamp Spectrum
The strong peaks of light emission are due to excited Hg:
Hg + e- (hot) Hg* + e- (cold) Hg + light + e-
photon
http://en.wikipedia.org http://www.chemcool.com
Integrated Circuit Fabrication
and Plasma Technology
Microfabrication
deposit-pattern-etch-repeat
(a)
(e)
(b)
(f)
(c)
(g)
Copper metallization
(d) on the PowerPC chip
(h)
Basic Plasma Technology
Sputtering Magnetron
DC M a g n e tro n
Pulsed
RF S N S
N
Target S N
Substrate
to pump
Basic Plasma Technology
Capacitively Coupled Plasma
0.4 60 MHz
Cl+
Cl
wafer wafer
S
Simplified plasma deposition
SiH4 + e- SiH3 + H + e-
SiH3 + e- SiH2 + H + e-
SiH2 + e- SiH + H + e-
SiH + e- Si + H + e-
SiHx+ surface+ ion energy Si (s) + Hx(g)
Basic Plasma Technology
Electron Cyclotron Resonance Plasma: Etch and Deposition
http://nmp.nasa.gov/ds1/images.html
Other Applications :
Plasma Display Panels (PDPs)
Structure
blue
red
green
From S.S. Yang, et al, IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci. 31, 596 (2003).
Plasma Display Panels (PDPs)
Basic Operation
initiate breakdown sustain plasma
(~ 300 volts) (~ 180 volts)
Sustain Electrode surface
++++
++++++
Bus Electrode
h ~ 200 m
l ~ 400 m
d ~ 60 m
From S.S. Yang, et al, IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci. 31, 596 (2003).
Part 2:
Basic Vacuum Concepts
Goals
1 Torr =
1 mm-Hg
1x10-6 Torr 1 mTorr 1 Torr 760 Torr
1 Pascal =
1 N/m2
0.133x10-3 Pa 0.133 Pa 133 Pa 101,333 Pa
Warning:
Certain process gases
are incompatible with Rotary Vane Pump
pump fluids and pose (Campbell)
severe safety risks!
High Vacuum Pumping
Cryopumps condense gases on cold
surfaces to produce vacuum
Typically there are three cold surfaces:
(1) Inlet array condenses water and
hydrocarbons (60-100 Kelvin)
(2) Condensing array pumps argon,
nitrogen and most other gases (10-20
K)
(3) Adsorption is needed to trap helium,
hydrogen and neon in activated carbon (Campbell)
at 10-12 K. These gases are pumped
very slowly!
Warning: all pumped gases are trapped inside the pump, so explosive, toxic
and corrosive gases are not recommended. No mech. pump is needed until regen.
Caution:
The process chamber will be
contaminated by pumping fluid.
A cold trap must be used between the
diffusion pump and the process chamber.
Example:
Process gas flow of 50 sccm at 5 mTorr (@300K) requires
50 cm-3min-1(760Torr/5x10-3Torr)(300/273)(1min/60sec)(1/103)
= 140 liters/sec of pumping speed at the chamber pump port
Conductance Limitation
50 sccm
Conductance depends on
geometry and pressure (use
tabulated data)
5 mTorr
140 l/s
= Q/(P1 P2)
Fixed Throughput, Q:
Q = 0.005 Torr x 140 l/s = 0.7 Torr-l/s
Baratron:
True Pressure
(diaphragm displacement) Insensitive to gas
composition,
Good choice for
process pressures
Ionization of Gas
Ion Gauge:
Sensitive to gas
composition, but
RGA: a good choice for
A simple mass base pressures
spectrometer
Vacuum Gauge Selection adapted from Lesker.com
Residual Gas Analysis
Low pressure systems are
dominated by water vapor as
seen in this RGA of a chamber
backfilled with 4x10-5 torr of
argon
Why? H2O is a polar molecule
that is difficult to pump from the
walls --> bake-out the chamber
Leak?
PV = NkT
N/V = n = P/kT
= (1 N/m2)/(1.3807x10-23J/K)(300 K)
= [1 (kg-m/s2)/m2]/[4.1x10-21 kg-m2/s2]
= 2.4x1020 atoms per m3
= 2.4x1014 cm-3 at 1 Pa
Rule of Thumb
0
m
Flux of atoms to the x-y plane surface:
1
z n v z n v z f (v)dv n v 3
vZ 0
4
Very important!
(Campbell)
Example
A vacuum chamber has a base pressure of 10-6 Torr.
Assuming that this is dominated by water vapor, what is
the flux of H2O to a substrate placed in this chamber?
Cross-section
~ d2
n
d
http://www.duniway.com/images/pdf/pg/Paschen-Curve.pdf
PLASMA
gas
(ng) excited atoms
and molecules
electrons
ne, Te ions
Wall Wall
radicals,
molecular fragments
reaction
secondary
products electrons
substrate
pumping pumping
Power Absorbed
light
Power Gas flow
PLASMA
gas
(ng) excited atoms
and molecules
electrons
ne, Te ions
Wall Wall
radicals,
molecular fragments
reaction
secondary
products electrons
substrate
pumping pumping
Power Absorbed: DC
DC power
General electrical mobility and conductivity
Mobility: e = q<t>/m = q/mme
Where <t> is the average time between collisions
and m is the collision frequency (collisions per
second)
Electron Conductivity: DC = qnee = q2ne/mme
( DC E E )dv 3
Pabsabsorbed:
DC power
vol
Power Absorbed: RF
RF/microwave power
Ohmic Heating VRF
1 2
f=13.56 MHz
Pabs DC 2 m
|E | 2
dv 3
vol
2 2
m
-
E~0 vx(t0) > vx(0)
The usual mechanism for heating electrons using RF electric fields at low pressures
Wave/Resonant Heating
-Ex t1 t2 t3
- - -
x
PLASMA
gas
(ng) excited atoms
and molecules
electrons
ne, Te ions
Wall Wall
radicals,
molecular fragments
reaction
secondary
products electrons
substrate
pumping pumping
Electron Collisions
Elastic Collisions:
Ar + e Ar + e
Gas heating: energy is coupled from e to the gas
Excitation Collisions
Ar + ehot Ar* + ecold, Ar* Ar + h
Responsible for the characteristic plasma glow
Eelectron>Eexc (~11.55 eV for argon)
Ionization Collisions:
Ar + ehot Ar+ + 2ecold
Couples electrical energy into producing more e_
Eelectron > Eiz (15.76 eV for argon)
Dissociation:
O2 + ehot 2O + ecold or O2 + ehot O + O+ + 2ecold
Creates reactive chemical species within the plasma
Eelectron > Ediss (5.12 eV for oxygen)
Collision Cross Sections
Unlike the hard sphere model, real collision cross
sections are a function of electron kinetic energy (E), or
electron velocity (v).
We must find the expected collision frequency by
averaging over all E or v.
1 v(cm / sec)
inelastic vngas ...where 1 / ngas
t (cm)
becomes
inelastic ngas v ngas (v)v f (v)dv
0
K v (cm3s-1)
Graphically
f(E)
f(E) or (E)
Ar(E)
f(E)
f(E) or (E)
Ar(E)
y+ex+e
dnx/dt = Kxneny
For example,
Ar + e Ar+ + e + e
dne/dt = Kiznengas
- - M
M M
+ +
wall recombination dominates at low pressure because three body collisions are rare
Transport to Surfaces
light
Power Gas flow
PLASMA
gas
(ng) excited atoms
and molecules
electrons
ne, Te ions
Wall Wall
radicals, n = n<v>
molecular fragments
reaction
secondary
products electrons
substrate
pumping pumping
Electron and Ion Loss to the Substrate and Walls
- the plasma sheath -
- - -
-
chamber
- neni
0 -
- - - -
electrons are much more mobile than ions
e = q<t>/me >> q<ti>/mi = i
Electron and Ion Loss to the Substrate and Walls
- the plasma sheath -
s
ne<<ni
n e = ni (sheath)
-1kV
0v
(x) + +
V
x
x
V(x) + e
low energy electrons are trapped within the plasma, but ions are
accelerated by the sheath potential to the chamber walls and substrate
Ion Flux
The ion flux to a solid object is determined by
the Bohm velocity (or sound speed) of the
ion:
e = i
ne<ve> exp (qVs/kTe) = uBni = (kTe/mi)1/2 ne
giving
Vs = -Teln(mi/2me) ~ -5Te
This is often called the floating potential:
Isolated surfaces have a negative potential relative to the plasma.
Ion Energy
Ex: Assuming argon with Te = 3 eV, s
the ion energy at the cathode is
Ei = q(1 kV + 4.7Te) = 1014 eV
ignoring ion-neutral collision within s,
and the ion energy at the anode is -1kV
0v
Ei = 4.7 Te = 14 eV
V
x
Ion mean free path:
i = 1/ngasi ~ 3/p (cm) for Ar+
where p is the pressure in mTorr
(after Mahan, 2000)
Here i = 3/100 cm or 0.3 mm @ 0.1 torr
NOTE: s>>i Ei << 1014 eV!
Particle Conservation
and Electron Temperature
A simple model for electron temperature can
be found for a steady state plasma:
=1/deffngas
(V=plasma volume, Aeff = effective chamber area, deff = V/Aeff)
The electron temperature (Te) is a Single-step vs. Two-step Ionization
unique function of
7
1. gas density, ngas (pressure)
2. chamber size, deff = V/Aeff 6
n0 = 1 x 1011 cm-3
3. gas type: Kiz, Eiz
5
single-step
Example: 4 Ar + e Ar+ + 2e
Te (eV)
Two large parallel plates separated by
2 cm are used to sustain an argon 3
plasma at 25 mTorr. Find Te. two-step
(Pheat+Plight+Pdiss)
qneuBAeff(Eion + Eelec + Ec)
qVs 2Te
ne = 1.7x109 cm-3
Secondary Electrons
e = seci , where sec~0.1-10 and Ee ~ qVs
light
Power Gas flow
PLASMA
gas
(ng) excited atoms
and molecules
secondary
electrons electrons
ne, Te ions
Wall Wall
radicals,
molecular fragments
reaction
secondary
products electrons
substrate
pumping pumping
Summary
light
Power Gas flow
PLASMA
gas
(ng) excited atoms
and molecules
electrons
ne, Te ions
Wall Wall
radicals,
molecular fragments
reaction
secondary
products electrons
substrate
pumping pumping
Conclusion
Basics of Vacuum
ng, <v>, n,,
Plasma Generation and Simple Models
T e , n e , ni , i
Basic Plasma Generation
DC (sputter deposition systems)
AC < 400 kHz (plasma displays, lighting)
Radio Frequency 0.4<f<900 MHz (etching and
deposition)
Microwave > 900 MHz