Numerical Study of HBr/He Discharges in Capacitive Coupled Plasma Reactor

Br-based plasmas potentially provide selective etching of Si. The characteristics of homogenous discharge in mixed gases of HBr and He are investigated numerically based on a self-consistent 2D fluid model. The model takes into account the primary processes like excitation and ionization. The reactions of radicals with radicals, neutrals with neutrals and radicals and neutrals are taken into account in HBr/He discharge and therefore can adequately represent discharge plasma. Based on simulation results of the self-consistent 2D fluid model, the dominant species for Si etching in HBr/He plasma discharge are Br, Br+, H and HBr+. The impact of frequency, voltage, electrode gap, and gas mixture ratio on the densities of these important species in HBr/He has been explored. Simulation results indicate that elevating high frequency electrode's frequency and voltage, enhances etching species densities. Increasing the electrode gap, the densities of all plasma species decrease and vice versa. The addition of He to HBr plasma decreases Br and HBr+ densities while increases Br+ density. Densities of active species for Si etching and subsequently chemical etching versus physical sputtering in HBr/He plasma can be controlled by tuning input parameters and the desired etching can be achieved.