MONTE-CARLO SIMULATION OF SURFACE KINETICS DURING PLASMA-ENHANCED CHEMICAL-VAPOR-DEPOSITION OF SIO2 USING OXYGEN TETRAETHOXYSILANE CHEMISTRY

Tetraethoxysilane/oxygen (TEOS/O2) chemistries are now used for low plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) Of SiO2 when high conformality and low temperature are required. The surface processes leading to film growth, carbon elimination, and conformality are not well characterized. We have developed a model to investigate the surface kinetics of the PECVD of SiO2 films using TEOS/O2 chemistry. The model includes precursor adsorption and desorption, densification of the film, void formation, pyrolysis, plasma surface interactions, and geometric shadowing. Results for growth rate, fraction of carbon retained in the film, film conformality, and film roughness are discussed.