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Low-pressure rf plasmas have been applied for etching of ultra-low-k SiCOH wafers using an Oxford Plasmalab System 100. In pure CF plasmas, SiCOH layers have been etched for different power values. Using quantum cascade laser absorption spectroscopy in the mid-infrared spectral range, the correlation of online and in situ measured concentrations of two etching products, CO and SiF, with the ex situ determined etching rates has been studied. The concentration of SiF was found to range between 0.6 and 1.4 × 10 molecules cm. In contrast the concentrations of CO were measured to be only about 50 % of the SiF density with 7 × 10 molecules cm in maximum. The production rate of SiF, determined from the time behavior of its concentration after plasma ignition, was found to be between 1 and 5 × 10 cm s. The etching rates varied between 2 and 7 nm s. Both parameters increase nearly linearly with the applied rf power. It was found that for power values of up to 1.1 kW, the etching rate depends nearly linearly on the in situ monitored concentrations of both etching products. Therefore, the concentration of the etching products can be directly used as a measure of the etching rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) have attracted considerable interest as an alternative tuneable narrow bandwidth light source in the mid-infrared spectral range for chemical sensing. Pulsed QCL spectrometers are often used with short laser pulses and a bias current ramp similar to diode laser spectroscopy. Artefacts in the recorded spectra such as disturbed line shapes or underestimated absorption coefficients have been reported. A detailed time-resolved high-bandwidth analysis of individual pulses during a laser sweep has been performed. Quantitative results for CH absorption features around 1347 cm (7.42 μm) fell short of the expected values for reasonable operating conditions of the QCL. The origin of the artefacts using short pulses was identified to be partly of the same nature as in the case of long laser pulses. A complex combination with the tuning principle was found, leading to an apparently increased instrumental broadening (effective line width) and underestimated concentrations at low-pressure conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the last decade mid-infrared absorption spectroscopy between 3 and 20 μm, known as infrared laser absorption spectroscopy (IRLAS) and based on tuneable semiconductor lasers, namely lead salt diode lasers, often called tuneable diode lasers (TDL), and quantum cascade lasers (QCL) has progressed considerably as a powerful diagnostic technique for in situ studies of the fundamental physics and chemistry of molecular plasmas. The increasing interest in processing plasmas containing hydrocarbons, fluorocarbons, organo-silicon and boron compounds has lead to further applications of IRLAS because most of these compounds and their decomposition products are infrared active. IRLAS provides a means of determining the absolute concentrations of the ground states of stable and transient molecular species, which is of particular importance for the investigation of reaction kinetics. Since plasmas with molecular feed gases are used in many applications such as thin film deposition, semiconductor processing, surface activation and cleaning, and materials and waste treatment, this has stimulated the adaptation of infrared spectroscopic techniques to industrial requirements. The recent development of QCLs offers an attractive new option for the monitoring and control of industrial plasma processes as well as for highly time-resolved studies on the kinetics of plasma processes. The aim of the present article is twofold: (i) to review recent achievements in our understanding of molecular phenomena in plasmas using TDLs and (ii) to report on selected new applications of QCLs in the mid-infrared. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In hot-filament CVD we synthesized single diamond crystals up to 100 μm in diameter [1]. In order to enhance growth rate and impede growth defects, it is intended to employ a new gas feeding system. This allows CH4 to be separately applied from H2 to the reactor locally at the substrate position. The effect of this concept on the gas phase was analyzed by Infrared Tuneable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy (IR-TDLAS). The changes in species concentrations of CH4, CH3 and C2H2 with the substrate distance from filaments as well as first growth results are shown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tunable infrared diode laser absorption spectroscopy has been used to detect the methyl radical and three stable molecules, CH4, C2H2 and C2H6, in radio frequency plasmas (f=13.56 MHz) containing hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO). The methyl radical concentration and the concentration of the stable hydrocarbons, produced in the plasma, have been measured in pure HMDSO discharges and with admixtures of Ar, while discharge power (P=20–200 W), total gas pressure (p=0.08–0.6 mbar), gas mixture and total gas flow rate (Φ=1–10 sccm) were varied. The methyl radical concentration was found to be in the range of 1013 molecules cm-3, while methane and ethane are the dominant hydrocarbons with concentrations of 1014–1015 mol cm-3. Conversion rates to the measured stable hydrocarbons (RC(CxHy): 2×1012–2×1016 molecules J-1 s-1) could be estimated in dependence on power, flow, mixture and pressure. Under the used experimental conditions a maximum deposition rate of polymer layers of about 400 nm min-1 has been found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tunable infrared diode laser absorption spectroscopy has been used to detect the methyl radical and ten stable molecules in H2-Ar-O2 microwave plasmas containing up to 7.2% of methane or methanol, under both flowing and static conditions. The degree of dissociation of the hydrocarbons varied between 30 and 90% and the methyl radical concentration was found to be in the range 1010 –1012 molecules cm−3 . The methyl radical concentration and the concentrations of the stable C-2 hydrocarbons C2 H2 , C2 H4 , and C2 H6 , produced in the plasma decayed exponentially when increasing amounts of O2 were added at fixed methane or methanol partial pressures. In addition to detecting the hydrocarbon species, the major products CO, CO2 , and H2 O were also monitored. For the first time, formaldehyde, formic acid, and methane were detected in methanol microwave plasmas, formaldehyde was detected in methane microwave plasmas. Chemical modeling with 57 reactions was used to successfully predict the concentrations in methane plasmas in the absence of oxygen and the trends for the major chemical product species as oxygen was added. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]