Curved-boundary particle-in-cell simulation for the investigation of the target erosion effect of DC magnetron sputtering system

Jo, Yeon Hwa; Park, Heesung; Hur, Min; Lee, Hae June

doi:10.1063/5.0035172

Cited by 8 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…A GGM is a good tool for solving the Poisson equation on a curved boundary using linear interpolation. Simulation of various conductor structures without increasing the numerical error was tested for a fluid simulation [21] and a PIC simulation [22].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation of electron heating effect in multiple hollow cathode trenches with curved boundary

Park

Sakiyama²,

Lee³

2023

Front. Phys.

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A particle-in-cell simulation is suitable for simulating capacitively coupled plasma devices because it calculates the trajectory of particles with arbitrary energy distributions and has the advantage of analyzing sheath dynamics precisely. Implementing the ghost grid method in the Poisson solver makes it possible to simulate a curved structure in the structured grids. The electron transport and heating mechanism are determined according to the two-dimensional (2D) sheath dynamics. The hollow cathode effect on electron transport was analyzed by varying the hole shape and gas pressure. The spatial distributions of electron density and temperature are influenced by the energy relaxation length of electrons, which is affected by the energy distribution function and gas pressure. As a result, a new electron heating mode appears in the 2D structure.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation of electron heating effect in multiple hollow cathode trenches with curved boundary

Park

Sakiyama²,

Lee³

2023

Front. Phys.

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“…Therefore, the magnetized electrons directly affect the ionization region and the spatial distribution of DCMS plasmas. DCMS plasmas were simulated with fluid approaches [7][8][9][10], kinetic approaches [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24], or hybrid methods [6,7,[25][26][27][28][29]. However, the validity of fluid models is limited by gas pressure, which should be high enough to apply the fluid assumptions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Particle-in-Cell Simulations for the Improvement of the Target Erosion Uniformity by the Permanent Magnet Configuration of DC Magnetron Sputtering Systems

Cheon

Park

et al. 2023

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Improving the target erosion uniformity in a commercial direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering system is a crucial issue in terms of process management as well as enhancing the properties of the deposited film. Especially, nonuniform target erosion was reported when the magnetic flux density gradient existed. A two-dimensional (2D) and a three-dimensional (3D) parallelized particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation were performed to investigate relationships between magnetic fields and the target erosion profile. The 2D PIC simulation presents the correlation between the heating mechanism and the spatial density profiles under various magnet conditions. In addition, the 3D PIC simulation shows the different plasma characteristics depending on the azimuthal asymmetry of the magnets and the mechanism of the mutual competition of the E × B drift and the grad-B drift for the change in the electron density uniformity.

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“…Plasma sources utilizing magnetic fields offer advantages in attaining a high-density plasma through strong confinement of charged particles or generating a desired plasma shape by controlling transport [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. In recognition of these benefits, academia has established a classification system for industrial plasma sources with the characteristics of magnetized plasma, known as E × B devices.…”

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confidence: 99%

Experimental evidence of various mode numbers of azimuthal waves in an E×B Penning source for semiconductor processing

Cheon

Choi

Koo

et al. 2023

Plasma Sources Sci. Technol.

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This study presents the first experimental evidence for the existence of various mode numbers of azimuthal waves in an E×B Penning source used for semiconductor processing. To accurately measure these mode numbers, we utilized an eight-tip probe array aligned in an azimuthal direction to acquire spatiotemporal signals and applied the Beall analysis to obtain the dispersion relations. We combined seven dispersion relations obtained from distinct probe pairs to derive a single dispersion relation. This method allowed us to enhance the accuracy and reliability of the measurements. Our results show that the amplitude of the fast Fourier transformation (FFT) undergoes significant changes as the discharge voltage and magnetic field strength are varied. We observed that a distinguishable peak seen at low discharge voltage is divided into a wide range of dominant peaks up to eight when the discharge voltage is increased. The dispersion relation reveals that the phase velocity of each mode is proportional to the frequency. As the magnetic field strength increases, the amplitude of the FFT rapidly decreases except for a dominant peak corresponding to mode number 3. Ultimately, the low azimuthal mode dominates the azimuthal oscillation. Moreover, the radial profile of the FFT results shows that the frequencies of modes are nearly constant along the radial direction and have a maximum spectral magnitude at the periphery of the plasma core. Notably, as the amplitude of the modes increased, the maximum amplitude transitioned away from the core region. The findings from experiment with the multi-arrayed probe suggest the presence of a characteristics eigenmode in the E×B Penning source. This eigenmode appears to be a fundamental and pervasive feature of the system, spanning a range of mode numbers from low to high.

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Curved-boundary particle-in-cell simulation for the investigation of the target erosion effect of DC magnetron sputtering system

Cited by 8 publications

References 26 publications

Two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation of electron heating effect in multiple hollow cathode trenches with curved boundary

Two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation of electron heating effect in multiple hollow cathode trenches with curved boundary

Particle-in-Cell Simulations for the Improvement of the Target Erosion Uniformity by the Permanent Magnet Configuration of DC Magnetron Sputtering Systems

Experimental evidence of various mode numbers of azimuthal waves in an E×B Penning source for semiconductor processing

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