Simulation of remote plasma activated processing using electron cyclotron resonance excited discharges

Abstract

Summary form only given. The electron energy distribution (EED) in the ECR (electron cyclotron resonance) zone and the transfer of energy from the carrier gas to the working gases downstream are investigated. The EED was simulated using a Monte Carlo simulation capable of including nonresonant effects and arbitrary orientations of the magnetic and electric fields. Due to the high fractional ionizations in the ECR zone, electron-electron (e-e) collisions are quite important in determining the EED, and methods whereby these collisions may be self-consistently included have been formulated. The high thermal conductivity resulting from these collisions may be responsible for the high electron temperatures observed downstream of the ECR zone. Having obtained the EED in the ECR zone, electron impact rate coefficients for use in an accompanying plasma chemistry model are calculated. The plasma chemistry model simulates the flow of the carrier gas through the plasma zone, the mining of processing gases downstream, and the subsequent gas phase and the heterogeneous chemistry which results. The system of interest is plasma activation of SiH4 by Ar. A saturation effect involving activation by excited neutral species is proposed