Simulation of Discharge Characteristics for the Plasma Etching of Large Area SiO2 Substrates

Abstract

The electron density distribution and average electron temperature distribution in reactive ion etching (RIE) chamber are of great significance for the ionization and excitation reaction rate. The uniformity of radial distributions of the electron density and average electron temperature in the discharge chamber greatly affects the uniformity of the etching, especially the plasma etching of large area SiO2 substrates. We study the effects of discharge conditions (including power and pressure) on the electron density and average electron temperature of plasma-etched 400 mm SiO2 substrates in the reactive ion etching chamber; the simulation results show that the allowable major discharge conditions strongly affect the characteristics of plasma in the large area reactive ion etching chamber. Specifically, with increase in the power both the electron density and average electron temperature increase, being accompanied by deteriorating uniformity of their radial distributions. As the pressure increases, the electron density increases but average electron temperature decreases, being accompanied by deteriorating uniformity of their radial distributions. These methods and conclusions can provide reference for the improvement of cavity structure and large area RIE equipment designing and selection of the process parameters.