Abstract
Aiming at the basic understanding of weakly ionized plasma for dry etching process, N2 and H2 plasmas have been analyzed by means of both computer simulations and experimental diagnostics. Basic plasma parameters such as electron temperature (Te) and electron density (Ne) were measured by probe and number density of electrically neutral radicals such as atomic hydrogen in H2 plasma and atomic nitrogen in N2 plasma were measured by vacuum ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy (VUVAS). These results are compared with two set of commercial plasma simulator with identical reaction models. Though Te and Ne were not so affected by the reaction model assumed for the simulation, number densities of radicals depend strongly on the reaction model. The experimentally measured values have been simulated successfully by reexamining the reaction paths and using precise value of surface reaction rate. These results show that careful examination on the set of reaction paths and substantial expansion of basic studies on surface reaction are indispensable in order to understand plasma process.
