Generation and Applications of a Broad Atomic Oxygen Beam with a High Flux‐Density via Collision‐Induced Dissociation of O₂

Comprehensive Summary We detail the generation of a pulsed atomic oxygen (AO) broad beam with a high flux‐density via collision‐induced dissociation of O 2 to support practical industrial exploitation of AOs, particularly for facilitating 2‐dimenstional oxidation/etching at a fast rate of one‐monolayer per second in an area ≥ 1000 cm 2 . This innovation fuses the following interdisciplinary concepts: (a) a high density of O + can be produced in an electron‐cyclotron‐resonance (ECR) O 2 plasma; (b) O + can be extracted and accelerated with an aperture‐electrode in the plasma; (c) O + with adequate kinetic energy can initiate a cascade of gas‐phase collisions in the presence of O 2 ; (d) collision‐induced dissociation of O 2 yields AOs with adequate kinetic energy which can cause additional collision‐induced dissociation of O 2 . Computational simulations of such collisions, with both ab initio molecular dynamics and direct simulation Monte Carlo methods, are used to guide the experimental generation of the proposed AO‐beam. We experimentally demonstrate the highest known AO mean flux‐density of about 1.5 × 10 16 atoms·cm –2 ·s –1 in a broad‐beam, and use it to oxidatively modify a self‐assembled molecular layer of siloxane on a silicon wafer. In addition, we also demonstrate the growth of Al 2 O 3 through an AO‐assisted atomic layer deposition process at room temperature.