Surface and plasma simulation of deposition processes: CH4 plasmas for the growth of diamondlike carbon

Abstract

A surface model was developed for diamondlike-carbon film deposition, and was connected in a self-consistent way with a one-dimensional plasma chemistry and physics model for a CH4 radio-frequency (rf) discharge. The surface model considers the adsorption of multiple species (CH3, CH2, and H), and solves for the surface coverage of each species. Comparison is also done with a one-adsorbed-species model. Deposition is assumed to take place via direct ion incorporation, and ion-induced stitching of adsorbed neutrals; film removal takes place via etching and sputtering. The effects of ion flux/energy and surface temperature are examined in detail: At high ion energies direct ion incorporation dominates, in spite of competition with sputtering; at intermediate energies stitching prevails, while for lower ion energies etching can become largest. Mass balances are written at the surface–gas interface, permitting the determination of the effective sticking coefficients of the reacting neutrals. The sticking coefficients calculated from the surface model are fed back into the gas-phase chemistry model to recalculate the neutral densities. The process is repeated until a self-consistent solution is obtained. It is shown that the effective sticking coefficient of a neutral changes drastically from a low value for the plasma-off (or low ion energy) state, to a high value for the plasma-on and high ion energy state, resulting in higher consumption at the surface. The results show that it is imperative for meaningful results to solve surface and gas-phase chemistry models in a self-consistent way, a fact demonstrated by successful comparison with experimental data for the deposition rate and the gas-phase densities.