Correlating ion energies and CF2 surface production during fluorocarbon plasma processing of silicon

Abstract

Ion energy distribution (IED) measurements are reported for ions in the plasma molecular beam source of the imaging of radicals interacting with surfaces (IRIS) apparatus. The IEDs and relative intensities of nascent ions in C3F8 and C4F8 plasma molecular beams were measured using a Hiden PSM003 mass spectrometer mounted on the IRIS main chamber. The IEDs are complex and multimodal, with mean ion energies ranging from 29to92eV. Integrated IEDs provided relative ion intensities as a function of applied rf power and source pressure. Generally, higher applied rf powers and lower source pressures resulted in increased ion intensities and mean ion energies. Most significantly, a comparison to CF2 surface interaction measurements previously made in our laboratories reveals that mean ion energies are directly and linearly correlated to CF2 surface production in these systems.