A hybrid Monte Carlo/fluid model of RF plasmas in a SiH4/H2 mixture

A fluid model for simulating the capacitively coupled steady RF plasmas in a monosilane-hydrogen mixture under plasma-processing conditions is developed. This model includes Monte Carlo treatment for electron transport properties in the mixture. The Monte Carlo simulation shows that the electron transport phenomena in the nonuniform RF field of 10 MHz are not in equilibrium with the local electric field. The nonequilibrium transport properties are incorporated in the fluid model (hybrid model) by modifying the equilibrium values of the swarm parameters using data from the Monte Carlo simulation. Using this model, the spatiotemporal variations of the charged species and the electric field in the sheath region of the RF plasma are calculated. For obtaining the steady RF plasma structure, ion-induced slow processes such as recombination and diffusion of ions are calculated by combining the hybrid model with rate equations for ions. Using the calculated steady RF plasma structure, a preliminary calculation of the silyl (SiH ₃) and hydrogen (H) radical distributions caused by the generation, diffusion, and reaction of the radicals are carried out. The effect of sticking on the profile of the radical distribution is presented