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The demand for computing power keeps rising. As processors and computers accelerate—key to advancing AI —integrated circuits (ICs) are being pushed to their limits. While semiconductor industry currently operates at the 3 nm node in logic, even smaller technologies are on the horizon.
Plasma etching and deposition, essential techniques for pattern transfer, remain critical for producing smaller lithographic features. However, these processes face increasing challenges in achieving greater accuracy.
Reducing system complexity, lowering energy consumption, and optimizing etching and deposition processes will be the revolutionary solutions.
Prodrive Technologies’ RF plasma power solution (tailored bias waveform generator) provides a matchless solution or unprecedented precision and control in chip manufacturing.
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Our tailored bias waveform generator, offers direct control over the ion energy directed at the wafer surface, with a very narrow ion energy distribution. The ion energy is decoupled from ion flux, unlocking new possibilities for etch rate control and achieving high selectivity with challenging material combinations. Moreover, with no matching network required and operating at low frequency, the generator can potentially lower energy consumption compared to the conventional RF bias generators, reducing both carbon footprint and cost per wafer.
Versatility
The Axiom tailored waveform generator is highly versatile and suitable for both deposition and etch processes with highly precise control across the entire energy range. This allows both mild (ALE, ALD) and traditionally more aggressive (RIE) processes to benefit. By decoupling ion flux from the ion energy, it enables much better etch rate control at higher ion energies. Its very narrow ion energy distribution (< 7eV) ensures high selectivity, even for challenging material combinations. The module is compatible with reactors using either remote (ICP / ECR) or direct (CCP) plasma sources, making it effective for both conductive and dielectric material layers.
Additionally, the tool suite delivered with the module offers direct insight into the process.
Reliability
The Axiom tailored waveform module is fully PCB-based and almost completely produced on automated production lines with in-line automated quality control and tests, minimizing the risk of human error. Once finalized, it will comply with the SEMI standards.
The current functional air-cooled evaluation kit is ready to be integrated into etching and deposition tools, so R&D engineers can test and evaluate how the technology performs in their specific set-up. Client-specific modifications and adjustments can be made to ensure a 100 percent fit.
Once these assessments have been completed successfully, tool manufacturers can use the Tailored Waveform Generator as a differentiator for their clients and embed it in their successive semiconductor manufacturing processes. Based on the current module, customization is required to achieve full-scale production.
Full customization is possible to meet the specific requirements.
| Ion energy | Up to 1000eV |
| Ion current | Up to 700 mA |
| Input | External +400V / +24V Supply |
| Vprocess | 20 - 1500V |
|
Vp-p Vprocess + Vslope |
20 - 2000V |
| Islope |
2.1A |
| Tperiod | 3.33 - 10 us |
| Ambient temperature | 15 to 35°C |
| Cooling | Air cooled |
| Enviroment | Laboratory / Controlled |
| Phase | Common exciter |
| Synchronization | Synchronization (CEX) |
| Configuration / Monitoring | Ethernet (Toolsuite) / EtherCAt |
| Enabling / Disabling | I/O |
| Customization is fully possible. Please contact us for further discussion. |
This video schematically shows how tailored waveform biasing works.
Capacitively coupled plasmas are routinely used in an increasing number of technological applications, where a precise control of the quantity and the shape of the energy distribution of ion fluxes impacting boundary surfaces is required. Oftentimes, narrow peaks at controllable energies are required, e.g. to improve selectivity in plasma etching, which cannot be realized in classical discharges. We combine experimental ion flux-energy distribution measurements and PIC/MCC simulations to provide insights into the operation and ion acceleration mechanisms for discharges driven by square-shaped tailored voltage waveforms composed of low-frequency (100 kHz) pulsed and high-frequency (27.12 MHz) signals. The formation of ion flux-energy distributions with a narrow high energy peak and strongly reduced ion fluxes at intermediate energies is observed. The position of the high energy peak on the energy axis can be controlled by adjusting the low-frequency voltage pulse magnitude and duty cycle. The effects of tailoring the driving voltage waveform by adjusting these control parameters as well as its repetition rate on the plasma operation and the ion flux-energy distribution are analysed in depth. We find, e.g. that the duty cycle regime (<40% or >60%) determines if the high energy ions form at the grounded or the powered electrode and that the duration of the pulse must exceed the ion energy relaxation time, on the order of 0.5 μs.
Go to Publisher's PageFor atomic scale plasma processing involving precise, (an)isotropic and selective etching and deposition, it is required to precisely control the energy of the plasma ions. Tailored waveforms have been employed to bias the substrate table to accurately control this ion energy. Recent research has shown that switched-mode power converters can be used to generate this kind of waveform, with the benefit of increased energy efficiency and flexibility compared to the traditionally used linear amplifiers. In this article, an improved equivalent electric circuit model of the plasma reactor is proposed to allow simulation and bias waveform optimization. The equivalent electric circuit is analysed for different process phases, including the charge, discharge, and post-discharge phase. The proposed model is suitable for electric circuit simulation and can be used for predicting the electric waveforms and ion energy distributions. Plasma parameters are required as input for the model, thus an empirical parameter identification method based on the electrical measurements of the bias voltage and output current waveforms is introduced. Since these electrical measurements do not interact with the plasma process, the proposed parameter identification method is nonintrusive. Experiments have been carried out, which demonstrate that the proposed model and parameter identification method provide the expected accuracy.
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