Kinetic simulations of low temperature plasmas used for plasma processing

Thomas G. Jenkins; Daniel Main; Eve Lanham; Scott E. Kruger; John R. Cary

doi:10.1117/12.3012539

9 April 2024 Kinetic simulations of low temperature plasmas used for plasma processing

Thomas G. Jenkins, Daniel Main, Eve Lanham, Scott E. Kruger, John R. Cary

Proceedings Volume 12958, Advanced Etch Technology and Process Integration for Nanopatterning XIII; 129580H (2024) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3012539
Event: SPIE Advanced Lithography + Patterning, 2024, San Jose, California, United States

Abstract

Low-temperature kinetic plasma simulations using particle-in-cell (PIC) and Monte Carlo methods (DSMC/MCC) for the chemistry can provide many advantages over the more popular fluid simulations, including detailed information about the ion energy and angular distribution functions that are critical for plasma processing. In this presentation, two different types of simulations illustrating the power of kinetic modeling are demonstrated. The first is a macroscopic-scale simulation of an inductively coupled plasma (ICP). We demonstrate how implicit methods can make these challenging simulations feasible, and show that our numerical model captures salient physical effects (inductive coupling, sheath formation, plasma generation, etc.) of the ICP discharge. Efforts to hasten the convergence of these simulations to steady-state and to improve their predictive capabilities are also summarized. Secondly, we outline ongoing work to develop microscopic feature-scale simulations of a through-silicon-via etch process, obtaining potential boundary conditions and incident particle fluxes within the feature from larger-scale kinetic sheath computations. For both simulation types, ion energy-angle distributions at the wafer surface, electron kinetics, and the detailed physics of the sheath and presheath can be computed by our numerical model.

Conference Presentation

(2024) Published by SPIE. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

Citation Download Citation

Thomas G. Jenkins, Daniel Main, Eve Lanham, Scott E. Kruger, and John R. Cary "Kinetic simulations of low temperature plasmas used for plasma processing", Proc. SPIE 12958, Advanced Etch Technology and Process Integration for Nanopatterning XIII, 129580H (9 April 2024); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3012539

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available