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In the manufacturing process of semiconductors, plasma processing is an essential technology, and the plasma used in the process is required to be of high density, low temperature, large diameter, and high uniformity. This research focuses on the microwave-excited plasma that meets these needs, and the research target is a spatial profile control. Two novel techniques are introduced to control the uniformity; one is a segmented slot antenna that can change radial distribution of the radiated field during operation, and the other is a hyper simulator that can predict microwave power distribution necessary for a desired radial density profile. The control system including these techniques provides a method of controlling radial profiles of the microwave plasma via inverse-problem approach, and is investigated numerically and experimentally.

We introduce state-of-the art small-contact etching by a new patterning technique using atomic layer etching (ALE) for sub-5 nm technology generation. In small-contact etching, SiO 2 is etched by using a TiN hard mask with the progress of the miniaturization process. However, when applying the conventional method to small-contact etching with a TiN mask, etch stop is caused by excess deposition on the SiO 2 film. From the results of surface analysis by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and transmission electron microscopy-energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (TEM-EDX), it is considered that the deposition is formed by the reaction of fluorocarbon (FC) plasma and TiN. To solve this problem, we have developed a quasi-ALE technique to improve the ALE process to make it more suitable for SiO 2 etching. By adopting this technique to small-contact etching with a TiN hard mask, etch stop was significantly reduced. Quasi-ALE precisely controls the surface reaction by controlling the radical flux and ion flux independently. Therefore, the reaction of FC plasma and TiN leading to etch stop can be minimized. Quasi-ALE can resolve the etch-stop issue due to the TiN mask used in the conventional method.