• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.1-5
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• 2014

The plasma density distribution in between the electrode and lateral wall of a narrow gap CCP was investigated. The plasma density distribution was obtained using single Langmuir probe, having two peaks of density distribution at the center of electrode and at the peripheral area of electrodes. The plasma density distribution was compared with the RF fluctuation of plasma potential taken from capacitive probe. Ionization reactions obtained from numerical analysis using CFD-$ACE^+$ fluid model based code. The peaks in two region for plasma density and voltage fluctuation have similar spatial distribution according to input power. It was found that plasma density distribution between the electrode and the lateral wall is closely related with the local ionization.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.472-472
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• 2011

The capacitive coupled plasma (CCP) has been extensively used in the semiconductor industry because it has not only good uniformity, but also low electron temperature. But CCP source has some problems, such as difficulty in varying the ion bombardment energy separately, low plasma density, and high processing pressure, etc. In this reason, dual frequency CCP has been investigated with a separate substrate biasing to control the plasma parameters and to obtain high etch rate with high etch selectivity. Especially, in this study, we studied on the etching of $SiO_2$ by using the pulse-time modulation in the dual-frequency CCP source composed of 60 MHz/ 2 MHz rf power. By using the combination of high /low rf powers, the differences in the gas dissociation, plasma density, and etch characteristics were investigated. Also, as the size of the semiconductor device is decreased to nano-scale, the etching of contact hole which has nano-scale higher aspect ratio is required. For the nano-scale contact hole etching by using continuous plasma, several etch problems such as bowing, sidewall taper, twist, mask faceting, erosion, distortions etc. occurs. To resolve these problems, etching in low process pressure, more sidewall passivation by using fluorocarbon-based plasma with high carbon ratio, low temperature processing, charge effect breaking, power modulation are needed. Therefore, in this study, to resolve these problems, we used the pulse-time modulated dual-frequency CCP system. Pulse plasma is generated by periodical turning the RF power On and Off state. We measured the etch rate, etch selectivity and etch profile by using a step profilometer and SEM. Also the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic analysis on the surfaces etched by different duty ratio conditions correlate with the results above.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.307-307
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• 2013

초고집적 회로에 적용되는 반도체 소자의critical dimension (CD)이 수 nano 사이즈로 줄어들고 있기 때문에, 다양한 물질의 식각을 할 때, 건식식각의 중요성이 더 강조되고 있다. 특히 $SiO_2$와 같은 유전체 물질을 식각할 때, plasma process induced damages (P2IDs)가 관찰되어 왔고, 이러한 P2IDs를 줄이기 위해, pulsed-time modulation plasma가 광범위하게 연구되어 왔다. Pulsed plasma는 정기적으로 radio frequency (RF) power on과 off를 반복하여 rf power가 off된 동안, 평균전자 온도를 낮춤으로써, 웨이퍼로 입사되는 전하 축적을 효과적으로 줄일 수 있다. 또한 fluorocarbon plasmas를 사용하여 $SiO_2$를 식각하기 위해 Dual-Frequency Capacitive coupled plasma (DF-CCP)도 널리 연구되어 왔는데, 이것은 기존의 방법과는 다르게 plasma 밀도와 ion bombardment energy를 독립적으로 조절 가능하다는 장점이 있어서 미세 패턴을 식각할 때 효과적이다. 본 연구에서는 Source power에는 60 MHz pulsed radio frequency (RF)를, bias power에는 2 MHz continuous wave (CW) rf power가 사용된 system에서 Ar/$C_4$ F8/$O_2$ 가스 조합으로, amorphous carbon layer (ACL)가 hard mask로 사용된 $SiO_2$를 식각했다. 그리고 source pulse의 duty ratio와 pulse frequency의 효과에 따른 $SiO_2$의 식각특성을 연구하였다. 그 결과, duty ratio의 감소에 따라 $SiO_2$, ACL의 etch rate이 감소했지만, $SiO_2$/ACL의 etch selectivity는 증가하였다. 반면에 pulse frequency의 변화에 따른 두 물질의 etch selectivity는 크게 변화가 없었다. 그 이유는 pulse 조건인 duty ratio의 감소가 전자 온도 및 전자 에너지를 낮춰 $C_2F8$가스의 분해를 감소시켰으며, 이로 인해 식각된 $SiO_2$의 surface와 sidewall에 fluorocarbon polymer의 형성이 증가하였기 때문이다. 또한 duty ratio의 감소에 따라 etch selectivity뿐만 아니라 etch profile까지 향상되는 것을 확인할 수 있었다.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.6-10
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• 2016

In RF plasma processing, when the plasma is generated, there is the difference of impedance between RF generator and plasma source. Its difference is normally reduced by using the matcher and the RF power is transferred efficiently from the power generator to the plasma source. The generated plasma has source impedance that it can be changed during processing by pressure, frequency, density and so on. If the range of source impedance excesses the matching range of the matcher, it cannot match all value of the impedance. In this research, we studied the elevation mechanism of the RF power delivery efficiency between RF generator to the plasma source by using the transmission line and impedance tuning of the plasma source. We focus on two plasma sources (capacitive coupled plasma (CCP), inductive coupled plasma (ICP)) which is most widely used in industry recently.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2002.06a
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• pp.198-198
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• 2002

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2007.08a
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• pp.81-81
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• 2007

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.210-210
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• 2011

The effects of CH2F2 and N2 gas flow rates on the etch selectivity of silicon nitride (Si3N4) layers to extreme ultra-violet (EUV) resist and the variation of the line edge roughness (LER) of the EUV resist and Si3N4 pattern were investigated during etching of a Si3N4/EUV resist structure in dual-frequency superimposed CH2F2/N2/Ar capacitive coupled plasmas (DFS-CCP). The flow rates of CH2F2 and N2 gases played a critical role in determining the process window for ultra-high etch selectivity of Si3N4/EUV resist due to disproportionate changes in the degree of polymerization on the Si3N4 and EUV resist surfaces. Increasing the CH2F2 flow rate resulted in a smaller steady state CHxFy thickness on the Si3N4 and, in turn, enhanced the Si3N4 etch rate due to enhanced SiF4 formation, while a CHxFy layer was deposited on the EUV resist surface protecting the resist under certain N2 flow conditions. The LER values of the etched resist tended to increase at higher CH2F2 flow rates compared to the lower CH2F2 flow rates that resulted from the increased degree of polymerization.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2003.07b
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• pp.1147-1150
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• 2003

The RF inductive discharge or inductively coupled plasma (ICP) continues to attract growing attention as an effective plasma source in many industrial applications, the best known of which are plasma processing and lighting technology Although most practical ICPs operate at 13.56 (MHz) and 2.65 (MHz), the trend to reduce the operating frequency is clearly recognizable from recent ICP developments. In an electrodeless fluorescent lamp, the use of a lower operating frequency simplifies and reduces cost of rf matching systems and rf generators and can eliminate capacitive coupling between the inductor coil and plasma, which could be a strong factor in wall erosion and plasma contamination. In this study, the configuration of ferrite and fixture which operates at the frequency of 2.65 (MHz) will be discussed, by using the electromagnetic simulation (Maxwell 2D).

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.95-100
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• 1998

A helical inductively coupled plasma asher, which produces low energy and high density plasma, has been built and investigated for photoresist stripping process. Oxygen ion density in the order of $10^{11}/cm^3$ is measured by Langmuir probe, and higher oxygen radical density is observed by Optical Emission Spectrometer. As RF source power is increased, the plasma density and thus photoresist stripping rate are increased. Independent RF bias power to the wafer stage provides a dc bias to the wafer and an ability to add the ion assisted reaction. At 1 KW of the source power, the coupling mechanism of the RF power to the plasma is changed from the inductive mode to the capacitive one at about 1 Torr. This change causes the plasma density and ashing rate decreases abruptly. The critical pressure of the mode change becomes larger with larger RF power.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.57 no.5
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• pp.816-820
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• 2008

The RF inductive discharge of inductively couples plasma (ICP) continues to attract growing attention as an effective plasma source in many industrial applications, the best known of which are plasma processing and lighting technology. Although most practical ICPs operate at 13.56 [MHz] and 2.65 [MHz], the trend to reduce the operating frequency is clearly recognizable from recent ICP developments. In an electrodeless fluorescent lamp, the use of a lower operating frequency simplifies and reduces cost of RF matching systems and RF generators and can eliminate capacitive coupling between the inductor coil and plasma, which could be a strong factor in wall erosion and plasma contamination. In this study, We discussed simulation and experimental results when changing ferrite position in antenna.