Plasma etching and deposition are two key processes in semiconductor manufacturing. Plasma is used to increase the productivity as well as improve the process quality in these processes. With the increasing demands on smaller semiconductor detail size, precise control of plasma ion energy becomes critical in both plasma deposition and etching. Previous researches used a linear amplifier to generate a specific voltage waveform in order to control the plasma ion energy. However, this kind of amplifier is typically expensive and inefficient. This presentation introduces an electric equivalent plasma reactor model and a switched-mode power amplifier concept as a substitute. The presented solution yields a significantly reduced input power compared to the linear amplifier normally used in this application.
Q. Yu, TU Eindhoven