Computer simulation of materials processing plasma discharges

Abstract

Process modeling is widely used in the design of both integrated circuits themselves and in the design of integrated circuit manufacturing processes. Director¹ gives an overview of the roles of process, device, and circuit simulators in the overall design process. Process simulation has been used for many years for more mature processes such as oxidation, diffusion, and ion implantation, and the widely used computer simulation programs for these processes use physically based, first principles models.^2,3 Simulation is also widely used to predict the performance of resist development, etching, and film deposition processes.^4,5 However, the process simulation models which are currently used to predict the performance of these processes are not first principles models. The current generation of plasma etching and deposition models is based on heuristic rules which describe the propagation of a moving boundary rather than on the solution of the fundamental equations which describe the underlying, physical processes. In fact, the required input data for current plasma etching and deposition models are experimentally measured etch and/or deposition rate values.