Jim Conway

Using the resonance hairpin probe and pulsed photodetachment technique as a diagnostic for negative ions in oxygen plasma

In this work the resonance hairpin probe technique has been used for detection of photoelectrons generated during photodetachment experiments performed to determine negative ion density in an inductively coupled oxygen plasma. An investigation of the temporal development of the photoelectron population was recorded with the hairpin probe located inside the laser beam region and at various points outside the beam. Varying the external microwave frequency used to drive the probe resonator allowed the local increase in electron density resulting from photoelectrons to be determined. At a fixed probe frequency, we observed two resonance peaks in the photodetachment signal as the photoelectron density evolved as a function of time. Inside the laser beam the resonance peaks were asymmetric, the first peak rising sharply as compared with the second peak. Outside the laser beam region the peaks were symmetric. As the external frequency was tuned the resonance peaks merge at the maximum electron density. The resonance peak corresponding to maximum density outside the beam occurs at a delay of typically 1–2 µs as compared with the centre of the beam allowing an estimate of the negative ion velocity. Using this method, negative ion densities were measured under a range of operating conditions inside and outside the beam.

The temporal evolution in plasma potential during laser photo-detachment used to diagnose electronegative plasma

A floating emissive probe is applied in conjunction with pulsed laser photo-detachment of O− ions to enable measurement of the dynamic evolution in a plasma potential resulting from the presence of photoelectrons in a 13.56 MHz inductive radio-frequency oxygen discharge. The emissive probe emits thermionic electrons, allowing it to reach a saturation potential which is characterized as the local space potential of the plasma. After the photo-detachment pulse, the local space plasma potential in the illuminated region shoots up to a higher positive value and then relaxes to equilibrium in microsecond time scales. Using the relaxation time of the space potential, the negative ion temperature of O− is estimated over a 10–50 mTorr range and is found to be in the 0.19–0.03 eV range. The negative ion temperature measured by this method is found to be lower than that calculated from the time evolution in electron density resulting from photo-detachment which is independently measured using a resonance hairpin probe.

Use of particle-in-cell simulations to improve the actinometry technique for determination of absolute atomic oxygen density

Actinometry is a non-invasive optical technique that can be used to quantitatively monitor atomic oxygen number densities [O] in gas discharges under certain operating conditions. However, careless application of the technique can lead to erroneous conclusions regarding the behaviour of atomic oxygen in plasma. One limitation on this technique is an accurate knowledge of the various rate constants required, which in turn is hampered by an insufficiently precise knowledge of the electron energy distribution function (EEDF) in the plasma. In this work, particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations are used to generate theoretical EEDFs. To validate a simulation the electron density ne produced by the PIC code is compared with experimental ne values measured using a hairpin probe. The PIC input parameters are adjusted to optimize agreement between the PIC and experimental ne results. This approach should in principle yield an EEDF that more accurately reflects the true EEDF in the plasma. The PIC EEDF is then used to generate rate constants for the actinometry model which should improve the accuracy of the quantitative [O] result for that particular set of plasma conditions. The actinometry [O] results are then compared with [O] results obtained using two-photon absorption laser-induced fluorescence (TALIF) to validate the approach.

Investigation of atomic oxygen density in a capacitively coupled O2/SF6 discharge using two-photon absorption laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy and a Langmuir probe

Two-photon absorption laser-induced fluorescence (TALIF) spectroscopy was used for detection of absolute atomic oxygen density in a low-pressure capacitively coupled plasma source. We investigated the variation of atomic oxygen density for various mixtures of O2/SF6 and report a significant five-fold increase of [O] when oxygen plasma was diluted with SF6 by only 5%. We attribute this increase in [O] to a combination of a change in surface conditions caused by constituents of SF6 plasma reacting with the reactor walls and also due to an increase in the electron temperature. Atomic oxygen production rates were determined using electron-energy distribution functions obtained with a cylindrical Langmuir probe. It was found that the effective electron temperature dramatically increased from approximately 1?8?eV as the SF6 content varied from 0% to 60% which consequently resulted in a three-fold increase in the atomic oxygen production rate. TALIF was also used to investigate the variation of [O] due to fluorination of the reactor walls and also after etching resist-coated wafers. It was found that [O] increased by over a factor of three after fluorinating the walls with SF6 plasma; on the other hand a coating formed on the reactor walls after a resist etch process resulted in a reduction of [O] by only 20%.

Two-photon absorption laser induced fluorescence measurement of atomic oxygen density in an atmospheric pressure air plasma jet

Atomic Oxygen density is measured in an air atmospheric jet system using Two-photon Absorption Laser Induced Fluorescence (TALIF). The TALIF system is calibrated using photolysis of molecular oxygen (O2). The RF power coupled into the plasma is varied and the resulting atomic oxygen density in the plasma plume measured.

Experimental investigation of SF6–O2 plasma for advancement of the anisotropic Si etch process

This study examines the impact of varying the internal process parameters, such as the concentrations of oxygen and fluorine in a SF6–O2 plasma, in two capacitively coupled plasma etch chambers with different geometries. Silicon wafers were used to investigate the anisotropic nature of etch profiles. The oxygen and fluorine concentrations were measured via optical emission spectroscopy using the actinometry technique, which requires the electron energy distribution function to remain unchanged under the different plasma conditions employed in this work. A Langmuir probe was used to investigate the electron energy distribution function, where the chamber pressure, power, and process duration were kept constant and the oxygen concentration was varied from 0 to 60 vol. %. The results showed that in both the chambers, the atomic concentrations of oxygen and fluorine increased rapidly when the fraction of oxygen in the SF6 plasma was increased to 20 vol. % and decreased with further addition of oxygen. Scannin...