Heating mechanism and wave propagation in magnetically enhanced inductively coupled plasmas

Summary form only given. Magnetically Enhanced Inductively Coupled Plasmas (ME-ICPs) are being developed for microelectronics fabrication due to their high ionization efficiency and their ability to deposit power within the volume of the plasma. The power coupling of the antenna radiation to the plasma is of concern due to issues related to process uniformity. Several theories regarding modes of power deposition have been suggested. Landau damping has been proposed as a mechanism through which more efficient heating occurs. Electrons can be trapped in rapidly growing waves and accelerated to their phase velocity. More recently, it has been suggested that substantial electron heating is obtained from the electrostatic component of a helicon-like wave. To investigate these issues, we have improved the ElectroMagnetics Module (EMM) of the Hybrid Plasma Equipment Model (HPEM) to resolve the electric field propagation in ME-ICPs sustained in divergent magnetic fields. A full tensor conductivity and electrostatic source terms are directly included in the EMM. Plasma densities and power deposition are discussed for process relevant gas mixtures (e.g., Ar/Cl/sub 2/, Ar/CF/sub 4/) as a function of magnetic field strength and configuration.