Coulomb interactions between dust particles in plasma etching reactors

Summary form only given. We discuss results from a computer model for dust particle transport in reactive ion etching discharges where particle-particle Coulomb interactions are included. The basis of this study is a previously described dust transport simulation (DTS) which calculates particle trajectories by integrating the equations of motion due to the sum of the appropriate forces. Debye shielded Coulomb interactions between dust particles have been added to the DTS on a particle-by-particle basis. Results from the DTS indicate that particle-particle interactions modify trapping locations from localized points to extended sheets. Clouds or domes of particles typically observed above wafers are largely a consequence of particle-particle interactions which redistribute particles on nearly equipotential surfaces.