Role of surface temperature in fluorocarbon plasma-surface interactions

This article examines plasma-surface reaction channels and the effect of surface temperature on the magnitude of those channels. Neutral species CF4, C2F6, and C3F8 are produced on surfaces. The magnitude of the production channel increases with surface temperature for all species, but favors higher mass species as the temperature is elevated. Additionally, the production rate of CF2 increases by a factor of 5 as the surface temperature is raised from 25 degrees C to 200 degrees C. Fluorine density, on the other hand, does not change as a function of either surface temperature or position outside of the plasma glow. This indicates that fluorine addition in the gas-phase is not a dominant reaction. Heating reactors can result in higher densities of depositing radical species, resulting in increased deposition rates on cooled substrates. Finally, the sticking probability of the depositing free radical species does not change as a function of surface temperature. Instead, the surface temperature acts together with an etchant species (possibly fluorine) to elevate desorption rates on that surface at temperatures lower than those required for unassisted thermal desorption. (C) 2012 American Vacuum Society. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1116/1.4729445]