CHARACTERIZATION OF A LARGE VOLUME ELECTRON-CYCLOTRON RESONANCE PLASMA FOR ETCHING AND DEPOSITION OF MATERIALS

A novel microwave electron cyclotron resonance plasma source capable of producing a large volume high density plasma for wafer processing has been designed and constructed. The source utilizes an unique eight-loop antenna microwave coupling and a magnetic single/multicusp magnetic field configuration to generate a radially uniform plasma. Various single and multicusp magnet geometries were investigated. Depending on the magnetic field configuration, ion density ranges from 3.50 X 10(10) to 8.00 X 10(10) cm-3, the electron temperature ranges from 3.50 to 5.50 eV and the plasma potential varies between 13 and 20 V for 200-600 W of microwave power. For this range of parameters, the physical sputter etch rate of SiO2 with argon is about 120 angstrom/min with +/-5% etch uniformity over a 150 mm wafer.