Kinetic processes for CF/sub 4/ abatement of Ar/CF/sub 4//O/sub 2/ gas mixtures in ICP reactors

Summary form only given. Fluorocarbon gas, such as CF/sub 4/ and C/sub 2/F/sub 6/, are commonly used in the semiconductor industry for plasma etching. The use of these gases is being questioned by the semiconductor industry due to their global warming potential. For example, the global warming potential of CF/sub 4/ is 100 times that of CO/sub 2/. In this paper, we discuss abatement strategies for fluorocarbon gases as used in low pressure inductively couple plasma etching reactors. The hybrid plasma equipment model (HPEM), a 2-dimensional simulation, is used to model the plasma zone and a downstream auxiliary plasma or "burn box". As a test system, we consider Ar/CF/sub 4/ as the process gas with O/sub 2/ injected downstream to facilitate oxidation of the undissociated CF/sub 4/, gas phase reaction products (e.g., C/sub 2/F/sub 6/, C/sub 2/F/sub 4/) and etch product (SiF/sub 4/). We will present results of a parametric study of final emitted species for different gas mixtures, injected O/sub 2/ fraction and power deposition.