Nishant Sirse

Surface loss rates of H and Cl radicals in an inductively coupled plasma etcher derived from time-resolved electron density and optical emission measurements

A study is undertaken of the loss kinetics of H and Cl atoms in an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) reactor used for the etching of III-V semiconductor materials. A time-resolved optical emission spectroscopy technique, also referred to as pulsed induced fluorescence (PIF), has been combined with time-resolved microwave hairpin probe measurements of the electron density in a pulsed Cl2/H2-based discharge for this purpose. The surface loss rate of H, kwH, was measured in H2 plasma and was found to lie in the 125–500 s−1 range (γH surface recombination coefficient of ∼0.006–0.023), depending on the reactor walls conditioning. The PIF technique was then evaluated for the derivation of kwCl, and γCl in Cl2-based plasmas. In contrast to H2 plasma, significant variations in the electron density may occur over the millisecond time scale corresponding to Cl2 dissociation at the rising edge of the plasma pulse. By comparing the temporal evolution of the electron density and the Ar-line intensity curves with 10% of...

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.

Resonance hairpin and Langmuir probe-assisted laser photodetachment measurements of the negative ion density in a pulsed dc magnetron discharge

The time-resolved negative oxygen ion density n− close to the center line in a reactive pulsed dc magnetron discharge (10 kHz and 50% duty cycle) has been determined for the first time using a combination of laser photodetachment and resonance hairpin probing. The discharge was operated at a power of 50 W in 70% argon and 30% oxygen gas mixtures at 1.3 Pa pressure. The results show that the O− density remains pretty constant during the driven phase of the discharge at values typically below 5×1014 m−3; however, in the off-time, the O− density grows reaching values several times those in the on-time. This leads to the negative ion fraction (or degree of electronegativity) α=n−/ne being higher in the off phase (maximum value α∼1) than in the on phase (α=0.05–0.3). The authors also see higher values of α at positions close to the magnetic null than in the more magnetized region of the plasma. This fractional increase in negative ion density during the off-phase is attributed to the enhanced dissociative elec...

Probing negative ion density and temperature using a resonance hairpin probe

The sheath around the cylindrical pins of a resonance hairpin probe is modulated by applying a train of negative pulse voltages with respect to the grounded chamber. This phenomenon leads to the creation of a conjugate dielectric due to the electron-free sheath around the probe surface and the ambient plasma outside the sheath region. Synchronous measurement of electron density, ne, with respect to pulse waveform finds an overshoot in ne during the withdrawal of the negative pulses in the electronegative oxygen plasma. The physical reason behind this observation is presented together with a qualitative model for interpreting the density and temperature of negative ions based on this method.

Collisionless sheath heating in current-driven capacitively coupled plasma discharges via higher order sinusoidal signals

Collisionless heating of the electrons in the vicinity of the sheath region corresponding to higher order sinusoidal signals in a current-driven radio-frequency capacitively coupled plasma discharge has been investigated analytically and further verified by particle-in-cell simulation. The simulation results for collisionless sheath heating are found to be in good agreement with analytical predictions. In contrast to the voltage driven case, it is demonstrated that a pure sinusoidal waveform gives maximum electron sheath heating with a current-driven configuration and the ion energy can be controlled by varying the pulse width.

Numerical experiment to estimate the validity of negative ion diagnostic using photo-detachment combined with Langmuir probing

This paper presents a critical assessment of the theory of photo-detachment diagnostic method used to probe the negative ion density and electronegativity α = n-/ne. In this method, a laser pulse is used to photo-detach all negative ions located within the electropositive channel (laser spot region). The negative ion density is estimated based on the assumption that the increase of the current collected by an electrostatic probe biased positively to the plasma is a result of only the creation of photo-detached electrons. In parallel, the background electron density and temperature are considered as constants during this diagnostics. While the numerical experiments performed here show that the background electron density and temperature increase due to the formation of an electrostatic potential barrier around the electropositive channel. The time scale of potential barrier rise is about 2 ns, which is comparable to the time required to completely photo-detach the negative ions in the electropositive chann...

Measurement of electronegativity at different laser wavelengths: accuracy of Langmuir probe assisted laser photo-detachment

Langmuir probe (LP) assisted pulsed laser photo-detachment (LPD) of negative ions is one of the frequently used diagnostic techniques in electronegative plasmas. The technique is based on measuring the rise in electron saturation current following photo-detachment. During the photo-detachment process it is assumed that the background electron parameters (temperature and density) remain unchanged in the laser channel and the photo-detached electrons thermalize instantaneously with the background electrons (same temperature). Therefore, the measured electronegativity should be independent of laser wavelengths. However, our recent simulation results (2015 Phys. Plasmas 22 073509) demonstrates a failure of these assumptions and suggests that the measured rise in electron saturation current has a dependence on the laser wavelength. This letter presents experimental evidence in support of these simulation results. In this work, photo-detachment is performed at two different laser wavelengths in an oxygen inductively coupled plasma discharge. Electronegativity measured by LP assisted LPD is compared with those obtained by the hairpin probe (HPP) assisted LPD which is based on quasi-neutrality assumption. The experimental results reveal that the electronegativities measured by LP assisted LPD are affected by the laser wavelength, whereas, electronegativities measured by HPP assisted LPD are almost independent. The discrepancy between the measurements is higher at high electronegativities. In conclusion, the experimental results validate the weakness of assumptions to estimate electronegativity from LPD combined with LP and therefore emphasizes the need of a more realistic model to analyze raw data or an alternate solution is to utilize HPP.

Characteristics of silicon nitride deposited by VHF (162 MHz)-plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition using a multi-tile push–pull plasma source

To prevent moisture and oxygen permeation into flexible organic electronic devices formed on substrates, the deposition of an inorganic diffusion barrier material such as SiN x is important for thin film encapsulation. In this study, by a very high frequency (162 MHz) plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (VHF-PECVD) using a multi-tile push–pull plasma source, SiN x layers were deposited with a gas mixture of NH3/SiH4 with/without N2 and the characteristics of the plasma and the deposited SiN x film as the thin film barrier were investigated. Compared to a lower frequency (60 MHz) plasma, the VHF (162 MHz) multi-tile push–pull plasma showed a lower electron temperature, a higher vibrational temperature, and higher N2 dissociation for an N2 plasma. When a SiN x layer was deposited with a mixture of NH3/SiH4 with N2 at a low temperature of 100 °C, a stoichiometric amorphous Si3N4 layer with very low Si–H bonding could be deposited. The 300 nm thick SiN x film exhibited a low water vapor transmission rate of 1.18 × 10−4 g (m2 d)−1, in addition to an optical transmittance of higher than 90%.

Effect of driving frequency on the electron energy distribution function and electron-sheath interaction in a low pressure capacitively coupled plasma

By using a self-consistent particle-in-cell simulation, we investigated the effect of driving frequency (27.12–70 MHz) on the electron energy distribution function (EEDF) and electron-sheath interaction in a low pressure (5 mTorr) capacitively coupled Ar discharge for a fixed discharge voltage. We observed a mode transition with driving frequency, changing the shape of EEDF from a strongly bi-Maxwellian at a driving frequency of 27.12 MHz to a convex type distribution at an intermediate frequency, 50 MHz, and finally becomes a weak bi-Maxwellian at a higher driving frequency, i.e., above 50 MHz. The transition is caused by the electric field transients, which is of the order of electron plasma frequency caused by the energetic “beams” of electrons ejected from near the sheath edge. Below the transition frequency, 50 MHz, these high energy electrons redistribute their energy with low energy electrons, thereby increasing the effective electron temperature in the plasma, whereas the plasma density remains ne...