Low ion energy RF reactor using an array of plasmas through a grounded grid

Chesaux, M; Howling, A.A.; Hollenstein, Ch.; Dominé, D.; Kroll, U.

doi:10.1116/1.4790423

Cited by 7 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…The electron heating dynamics and, therefore, the electron density are known to be enhanced in capacitively coupled RF plasmas in the presence of structured electrodes [43][44][45][46][47][48].…”

Section: Effect Of Structured Electrodes On the E-to H-mode Transitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of a phase-locked RF substrate bias on the E- to H-mode transition in an inductively coupled plasma

Ahr

Schüngel

Schulze

et al. 2015

Plasma Sources Sci. Technol.

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The effect of a capacitive radio frequency (RF) substrate bias on the E-to H-mode transition and electron-heating dynamics in a low-pressure inductively coupled plasma (ICP) operated in hydrogen is investigated by phase-resolved optical emission spectroscopy (PROES) and Langmuir probe measurements. The inductive and capacitive power sources are driven at the same frequency and operated in a phase-locked mode with fixed but adjustable phase between them, as well as without a phase lock. For both operations, when the discharge is in the E-mode, the plasma density is significantly influenced by the choice of capacitive power. This directly affects the mode transition power: already low values of bias power can substantially reduce the threshold for the E-to H-mode transition. This coupling between both power sources is strongly dependent on the adjustable phase between them and is attributed to a phase-sensitive confinement mechanism for the highly energetic electrons produced by the expanding sheaths at the substrate and at the ICP coil. At higher pressures the beam electrons do not interact with the opposing sheath and, consequently, the effect diminishes. Using phase-unlocked operation reduces the overall beam confinement and also results in less pronounced coupling effects. In contrast, by using electrodes with ring-shaped trenches the initial energy of the beam electrons is enhanced, increasing the influence of the RF bias on the operation of the ICP discharge.

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Section: Effect Of Structured Electrodes On the E-to H-mode Transitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of a phase-locked RF substrate bias on the E- to H-mode transition in an inductively coupled plasma

Ahr

Schüngel

Schulze

et al. 2015

Plasma Sources Sci. Technol.

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“…Furthermore, the particular configuration of the slits suggests the presence of the hollow cathode discharge effect. Hollow cathode (HC) discharges have been investigated as a method to increase the deposition rate of amorphous silicon and silicon nitride, either in a plasma jet configuration [9][10][11][12], or as a set of remote sources in a large area PECVD reactor [13,14]. The high deposition rates achieved (up to 10 μm min −1 ) are attributable to the high plasma density [15,16] and the specific ion and electron energies [17][18][19] induced by the HC effect.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Maskless and contactless patterned silicon deposition using a localized PECVD process

Léal

Bruneau

Bulkin

et al. 2020

Plasma Sources Sci. Technol.

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We present a novel technique to perform contactless and mask-free patterned plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition and etching. When a powered electrode with narrow slits is placed very close to the substrate, plasma is selectively ignited within the slits due to the hollow cathode effect, and so deposition or etching occurs only within an area smaller than the size of the slit. This technique is demonstrated through the deposition of hydrogenated amorphous silicon using a gas mixture of hydrogen, argon and silane. Slits as small as 1 mm generate a plasma, and for this width, the lines deposited are about 750 μm wide, homogenous over their length (60 mm), and are deposited at a rate of 50 nm min−1. The phenomenon is studied using 2D Particle In Cell (PIC) modelling with a simplified argon chemistry. The electron localization observed in the PIC modelling provides an explanation of why the deposition is narrower than the slit.

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“…Under typical operating conditions (inter-electrode distances of a few cm and gas pressures of a few Torr) such slits would provide a hollow cathode enhancement to the plasma [4,5], making the plasma denser but maintaining a uniform distribution. However, by approaching the powered electrode to within a very short distance of the substrate surface, plasma ignition is inhibited in all zones outside of the slits, as depicted in Fig.…”

Section: A Plasma Processmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Contactless Patterned Plasma Processing for Interdigitated Back Contact Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells Fabrication

Wang

Ghosh

Ouadjane

et al. 2021

2021 IEEE 48th Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC)

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We present results from the application of a novel, contactless patterning technique to form the doped fingers required for interdigitated back contact silicon heterojunction (IBC-SHJ) solar cells. The technique involves patterning the RF powered electrode in a custom-designed RF-PECVD chamber. The patterned powered electrode -which has 1 mm wide openingslits in it -is brought in close proximity to the substrate surface, to localize the plasma and the process it performs. In this work, the localized plasma process being employed is an NF3/Ar etching, and is used to form doped fingers that are sub-mm wide and 60 mm long. The interdigitated structure (alternating electron and hole collection zones) is created by first uniformly depositing an intrinsic/n-type a-Si:H passivation stack, followed by an n-type/p-type µc-Si:H recombination junction on the rear side. A passivation layer is also deposited on the front side. The regions for the hole collection zones are then etched down to the intrinsic a-Si:H layer, and finally, a uniform p-type a-Si:H layer is deposited everywhere. The etched finger areas are first investigated by profilometry and spectroscopic ellipsometry, showing that the process can be controlled to leave as little as a few nanometers of passivating intrinsic a-Si:H. This fine control is achieved by pulsing the plasma, to slow the etching rate to a few Å/s. To evaluate the detailed opto-electronic properties of the structure, the samples are mapped out using two contactless techniques: Photoluminescence and Surface Photovoltage measurements (done with a macroscopic scanning Kelvin probe performed under dark and illuminated conditions). These measurements enable one to see both zones of degraded passivation, and the effectiveness of the doped regions in generating an open circuit voltage under illumination.

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Low ion energy RF reactor using an array of plasmas through a grounded grid

Cited by 7 publications

References 40 publications

Influence of a phase-locked RF substrate bias on the E- to H-mode transition in an inductively coupled plasma

Influence of a phase-locked RF substrate bias on the E- to H-mode transition in an inductively coupled plasma

Maskless and contactless patterned silicon deposition using a localized PECVD process

A Contactless Patterned Plasma Processing for Interdigitated Back Contact Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells Fabrication

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