A two-dimensional array of planar Langmuir probes built on a 200 mm diam silicon wafer was used to measure the radial and azimuthal variation of ion flux impinging on the wafer surface in and discharges maintained in an inductively coupled plasma etching reactor. The spatial variation of ion flux in a pure Ar discharge is approximately radially symmetric and peaks at the center of the wafer for pressures between 10 and 60 mTorr. The spatially averaged ion flux in a pure Ar discharge increases with increasing pressure and the corresponding uniformity degrades with increasing pressure within the pressure range studied. Addition of small amounts of electronegative gases to an Ar discharge flattens the radial and azimuthal ion flux distribution and accentuates azimuthal variations due to subtle asymmetries in the reactor geometry such as pumping ports. At fixed power, pressure, and flow rate, the spatially averaged ion current density decreases with increasing mole fraction of the electronegative gases in the feed gas.
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1 December 2002
Research Article|
December 01 2002
Two-dimensional ion flux distributions in inductively coupled plasmas: Effect of adding electronegative gases to Ar
Tae Won Kim;
Tae Won Kim
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106
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Eray S. Aydil
Eray S. Aydil
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106
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J. Appl. Phys. 92, 6444–6450 (2002)
Article history
Received:
May 31 2002
Accepted:
September 09 2002
Citation
Tae Won Kim, Eray S. Aydil; Two-dimensional ion flux distributions in inductively coupled plasmas: Effect of adding electronegative gases to Ar. J. Appl. Phys. 1 December 2002; 92 (11): 6444–6450. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1517733
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