Simulation of remote plasma activated processing using electron cyclotron resonance excited discharges

Electron Cylcotron Resonance (ECR) is now being applied to exciting plasmas for Remote Plasma Activation of thin film deposition and semiconductor etching. In ECR plasmas, a microwave field, typically at 2.45 GHz, is fed into a chamber in which a magnetic field has been applied whose electron cyclotron frequency equals that of the microwave field. Although the gas pressures used in such system are typically low (< 1-10 mTorr) the resonance effect allows one to generate high plasma densities. The resonance zone in which the microwave field is absorbed is usually thin and plasma processing is not directly performed in that region. carrier gases flowing though the ECR region exit in ionized and excited states. Processing gases may then be mixed downstream of the plasma zone, generating radicals which react with the material substrate. In this word, the authors investigate the electron energy distribution (EED) in the eCR zone and the transfer of energy from the carrier gas to the working gases downstream