GOALI: Optimization of Ion Beam Extraction - Enabling Technology for Advanced Semiconductor Fabrication

West Virginia University Research Corporation, Morgantown WV

Investigators

Abstract

This project will lead to developing a basic understanding of how to create beams of ions to be used to improve silicon wafer processing. The silicon chips at the heart of the modern age of electronics are comprised of millions to billions of very small manufactured structures. To function electronically, these structures have to have their ability to conduct electrons modified and they have to be physically constructed through a nanoscale machining process. Both of these processes rely on having plasmas (very hot gasses whose atoms have been broken up into positively charged ions and negatively charged electrons) interact with the silicon wafer. The plasmas cut through, or etch, the silicon to create the structures; and electric fields created by the plasma embed high speed ions into the silicon to change the electrical resistance of the silicon. This project focuses on a new device that creates beams of ions to be used in this manufacturing process. It is a partnership between scientists at West Virginia University (WVU) and Varian Semiconductor Equipment - a business unit of Applied Materials Corporation. Using diagnostics developed at WVU and an industrial processing tool, the team will investigate the process of ion beam formation in the tool in order to improve the three-dimensional processing of nanoscale computing and memory devices. In addition, this project supports the training of graduate and undergraduate students in a research environment that synergistically combines basic and applied plasma physics; improves the percentage of women and minorities obtaining advanced degrees in physics; attracts high quality undergraduates into physics through involvement in cutting-edge research activities; and supports a STEM education initiative that extends to over half the counties in West Virginia. While the extraction of ions from aperture sheaths is a key part of many technologies, the direct measurement of beam properties in the compact geometries of plasma processing tools is problematic. The goal of this project is to develop a fundamental understanding of the dependence of beam properties of Applied Materials new ion implantation tool on the key control parameters and geometry of the beam source. This, in turn, will enable creation of validated, predictive models of the entire ion implantation system. The specific scientific questions to be addressed in these studies will resolve long-standing questions concerning the extraction of ion beams from boundary sheaths and will thereby advance the state-of-the-art in ion beam technology.