Ion implantation based on the uniform distributed plasma

For over a decade, our group has been working on the development of distributed electron cyclotron resonance (DECR) plasma sources. The uniform distributed plasma (UDP) is the latest outgrowth of DECR, which has proved to be a flexible concept, leading to task-adapted plasma sources. Our plasma-based ion implantation (PBII) reactor is a 60 cm diameter, 70 cm high cylinder. The inside of the cylinder wall is covered with an array of 24 tubular magnets, 2.45 GHz microwave power feeds, and wave propagators. This peripheral plasma source of a good square meter produces a uniform distributed plasma (UDP), suitable for the treatment of wafers, pipes or object of arbitrary form. Initial PBII plans concern the nitridation of silicon wafers. At 1 mTorr pressure and 1.3 kW input power, the N-2 plasma has a density of 2 x 10(10) ions cm(-3) and an electron temperature of 1.2 eV. The N+/N-2(+) ratio of 7/3 in the N-2 UDP plasma, determined by quadrupole mass spectrometry, is favorable for PBII applications. A 45 kV pulsed power supply is available for initial tests, but should be supplanted by a more powerful source for meaningful experiments. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.