Particle simulation of industrial plasma devices

Summary form only given, as follows. A multipurpose package for simulating a wide range of industrial processes based on glow discharges is presented. In recent years, many different industrial processes based on applications of plasma sciences have been studied and introduced in the market. The attention is now focusing on realistic simulations of the complex interactions among physical processes in actual applications. Many different processes have to be simulated (e.g., plasma properties, distribution of contaminants, chemical reactions, surface processes) and complex geometrical features need to be accurately described. Very often, small geometrical features are important in determining critical engineering and economical factors. As an example, the contamination of a wafer and the uniformity of its processing, very important in plasma processing devices, depends heavily on small features. In flat panel displays small but important parts are used to prevent the activation of one pixel from affecting the neighbors. Recently, a new simulation method based on the particle in cell (PIC) method has been developed. In this approach every physical component of a device is represented by particles. Different properties and equations of motion characterize particles representing different elements. The common paradigm provided by the PIC method makes a modular approach very natural. When a new component or a new physical process needs to be included, the use of a common data structure for all the modules of the code allows a very simple and fast upgrade of the existing code. In the present work, we present some applications of the new method. First, we apply the powerful object module to simulate complex geometries, using particles to represent any material object. The module has been recently described. A typical industrial device composed of a substrate holder, a wafer and the surrounding wall and dielectric bell-shaped jar is simulated. A new module to study the moti- n of dust contaminants is also presented. Simulations of the dust motion in the geometry described above are also presented.