Influence of excitation frequency on plasma parameters and etching characteristics of radio-frequency discharges

Plasma parameters such as electron density, electron-collision rate, resonance frequency and the bias voltage were shown to be important for the characterization of radio-frequency (RF) plasmas. By means of self-excited electron resonance spectroscopy (SEERS), the plasma parameters were compared at two different frequencies, 13.56 MHz and 40.68 MHz, in argon, oxygen, fluorine and their mixtures at low pressure. Upon increasing the generator frequency, more RF power has to be applied to achieve the same bias voltage. At the lower pressure. the bias voltage indicates the mean energy of the ions impacting on the substrate and causing damage at the surface. The experimental results show that generally more power was dissipated in the plasma instead of the sheath if the frequency of the substrate generator was decreased. This results in a significantly higher electron density at the higher frequency. The increase of mean ion energy, owing to lower sheath thickness, has to be taken into account as a second-order effect. In order to show the influence of frequency for process applications, the etch rate of SiO2 on silicon was determined in CF4. For the same generator power, there is no well-pronounced dependence of the etch rate of SiO2 on silicon (CF4) on the frequency. For the same bias voltage, the etch rate of SiO2 increases roughly with the frequency. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.