Separation of the effects of rf sources used for biasing the wafer and for sustaining the plasma is studied by measuring the space profiles of net excitation rate of Ar(3p5) for a two-frequency capacitively coupled plasma as a representation of a typical oxide etcher. Measurements were performed in Ar and in CF4/Ar mixtures. For biasing supply operating at low frequency, 700 kHz, it was shown that the effect of the voltage becomes significantly smaller as the sustaining voltage is changed from high frequency, 13.56 MHz, to very high frequency (VHF), 100 MHz, and it even disappears for pulsed operation in mixtures. This is the result of the low dc self-bias at the VHF electrode that allows the high energy secondary electrons to leave the plasma without excessive contribution to ionization and dissociation.

Two-dimensional images of two-frequency capacitively coupled plasma (2f-CCP) in Ar and Ar/CF4(5%) in an axisymmetric parallel plate reactor are investigated by using 2D-t optical emission spectroscopy. Spatially averaged electron density is obtained by microwave interferometry. Results are presented in the form of 2D profiles of the net excitation rate of Ar(3p5)(εex=14.5 eV) and Ar+(4p4D7/2)(εex=35.0 eV) used as a probe. Large area uniformity of plasma production driven at very high frequency (VHF) (100 MHz) and that driven at high frequency (HF) (13.56 MHz) at low pressure (∼25 mTorr) are compared and discussed under a low frequency (LF) (700 kHz) bias voltage on the wafer. The time modulation of the net excitation rate and the electron density indicate that the LF bias is considerably influential in the production of the plasma and in the confinement of high energy electrons at HF. Functional separation between plasma production in a gas phase and ion acceleration to the wafer is achieved in 2f-CCP excited at VHF (100 MHz). The addition of a small amount of CF4 to the Ar plasma improves the uniformity of the radial profile of the excitation at HF (13.56 MHz).

Two-dimensional alignment of Ge islands is obtained by molecular beam epitaxy of Ge on lithographically patterned Si(001) surfaces composed of periodic arrays of square Si mesas. When the period of the Si mesa arrays is reduced to 140 nm, a “one island on one mesa” relationship is achieved. The Ge islands have an average base width of 85 nm and take on the shape of a truncated pyramid with four {114} facets and a (001) top. The patterning also serves to improve the island size uniformity. The dependencies of the island morphology on the sizes of the Si mesas and Ge coverages are examined to clarify the mechanism of preferential nucleation of Ge islands on the tops of Si mesas.

Enhancement of the growth rate of SiO2 with a rare gas diluted O2 plasma is of interest for application to various microelectronics fabrications. The key is the oxygen metastable atom (D1) density, which has the potential for surface activation. We used vacuum ultraviolet optical absorption spectroscopy to detect O(D1) and found a twofold increase in the density of O(D1) due to the dilution with Ar. The density increase is reasonably explained by the increase of the electron density, the oxygen dissociation fraction, and the Ar metastable density, that are experimentally obtained for low O2 fractions.