Plasma Diagnostics: Use and Justification in an Industrial Environment

The importance of plasma diagnostics at semiconductor equipment manufacturers has increased steadily over the past decade. The design and procurement of advanced etching tools now require a full host of plasma diagnostics and modeling capability. Examples of these activities at a semiconductor equipment manufacturer will be given, with specifics of significant and useful results. Examples include the development and optimization of an inductive plasma source, trend analysis and hardware effects on ion energy distributions, and mass spectrometry influences on process development. Discussion will focus on plasma diagnostics for in-house development and proliferation in an environment with strong financial justification requirements.