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Low-temperature plasma deposition and etching technologies play a vital role in plasma-assisted manufacturing fields such as semiconductor chip fabrication, flat-panel displays, and photovoltaic devices. The physical and chemical interaction mechanisms between plasma and materials form the fundamental scientific basis for elucidating the nature of process dynamics, optimizing processing parameters, and improving device performance and reliability.
In this work, based on a fluid hybrid model coupled with a surface profile evolution model, the plasma discharge characteristics and the deposition/etching surface profile under different discharge parameters are self-consistently simulated. It also presents the simulation results and discussions of some research cases.
During amorphous silicon thin-film deposition, it was found that the radial distribution of electron density generated during the plasma discharge process is non-uniform, which can lead to the non-uniform distribution of neutral and ion fluxes on the substrate surface, as well as the non-uniformity of film thickness or film quality. Moreover, the ion energy distribution strongly influences the composition and bonding configurations in the film, thereby affecting its quality and performance.
In studies of SiO2 etching using fluorocarbon mixed-gas discharges, it has been found that, under voltage waveform tailoring, adjusting the electrode gap, phase, and harmonic number enables flexible control of ion and neutral fluxes. This allows for the optimization of discharge parameters to improve etching performance. During Si etching with inductively coupled Ar/Cl2 plasmas, the application of tailored bias waveform causes the ion energy to concentrate predominantly in the high-energy range, which can significantly enhance etching efficiency.
In summary, this work systematically investigates that the self-consistent coupling between plasma discharge and deposition/etching processes can be achieved by the hybrid simulation, while further elucidating the essential synergistic roles of ions and neutral radicals. It is hoped that these findings will serve as valuable references for the optimization of plasma processes and equipment.-
Keywords:
- Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition /
- plasma etching /
- the synergistic effect of ions and neutrals
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