Processing Uniformity Improvement by Magnetic Field Distribution Control in Electron Cyclotron Resonance Plasma Chamber

Abstract

A novel electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) processing apparatus has been developed to improve processing uniformity by adjusting the plasma refractive index determined by the magnetic field distribution in the ECR plasma chamber. With SiO₂ deposition, an excellent uniformity of ±1% for six-inch wafers and ±2% for eight-inch wafers has been obtained. The conditions required for specimen processing, such as perpendicular ion incidence, can be selected independently of uniformity because uniformity is controlled only at the plasma generation region. This method can also be applied to other ECR techniques, such as ECR ion-stream etching.