Actinometric Investigation of In-Situ Optical Emission Spectroscopy Data in SiO2 Plasma Etch

Optical emission spectroscopy (OES) is often used for real-time analysis of the plasma processes. OES has been suggested as a primary plasma process monitoring tool. It has the advantage of non-invasive in-situ monitoring capability but selecting the proper wavelengths for the analysis of OES data generally relies on empirically established methods. In this paper, we propose a practical method for the selection of OES wavelength peaks for the analysis of plasma etch process and this is done by investigating reactants and by-product gas species that reside in the plasma etch chamber. Wavelength selection criteria are based on the standard deviation and correlation coefficients. Moreover, chemical actinometry is employed for the normalization of the selected wavelengths. We also present the importance of chemical actinometry of OES data for quantitative analysis of plasma. Then, the suggested OES peak selection method is employed.. This method is used to find out the reason behind abnormal etching of PR erosion during a series of $SiO_2$ etch processes using the same recipe. From the experimental verification, we convinced that OES is not only capable for real-time detection of abnormal plasma process but it is also useful for the analysis of suspicious plasma behavior.