The Implementation of the Surface Charging Effects in Three-Dimensional Simulations of SiO₂ Etching Profile Evolution

Abstract

Refined control of etched profile in microelectronic devices during plasma etching process is one of the most important tasks of front-end and back-end microelectronic devices manufacturing technologies. A comprehensive simulation of etching profile evolution requires knowledge of the etching rates at all the points of the profile surface during the etching process. Electrons do not contribute directly to the material removal, but they are the source, together with positive ions, of the profile charging that has many negative consequences on the final outcome of the process especially in the case of insulating material etching. The ability to simulate feature charging was added to the 3D level set profile evolution simulator described earlier. The ion and electron fluxes were computed along the feature using Monte Carlo method. The surface potential profiles and electric field for the entire feature were generated by solving Laplace equation using finite elements method. Calculations were performed in the case of simplified model of Ar + /CF 4 non-equilibrium plasma etching of SiO 2 .