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Compressive stresses in sputter deposited thin films are generally assumed to be caused by forward sputtered (peened) built-in particles and entrapped working gas atoms. While the former are assumed to be predominant, the effect of the latter on interaction dynamics and thin film properties is scarcely clarified (concurrent or causative). The overlay of the ion bombardment induced processes renders an isolation of their contribution impracticable. This issue is addressed by two molecular dynamics case studies considering the sputter deposition of Al thin films in Ar working gas. First, Ar atoms are fully retained. Second, they are artificially neglected, as implanted Ar atoms are assumed to outgas anyhow and not alter the ongoing dynamics significantly. Both case studies share common particle dose impinging Al(001) surfaces. Ion energies from 3 to 300 eV and Al / Ar + flux ratios from 0 to 1 are considered. The surface interactions are simulated by hybrid reactive molecular dynamics/force-biased Monte Carlo simulations and characterized in terms of mass density, Ar concentration, biaxial stress, shear stress, ring statistical connectivity profile, Ar gas porosity, Al vacancy density, and root-mean-squared roughness. Implanted Ar atoms are found to form subnanometer sized eventually outgassing clusters for ion energies exceeding 100 eV. They fundamentally govern a variety of surface processes (e.g., forward sputtering/peening) and surface properties (e.g., compressive stresses) in the considered operating regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we report on kinetic Monte-Carlo calculations of resistive switching and the underlying growth dynamics of filaments in an electrochemical metallization device consisting of an Ag/TiO2/Pt sandwich-like thin film system. The developed model is not limited to (i) fast time scale dynamics and (ii) only one growth and dissolution cycle of metallic filaments. In particular, we present results from the simulation of consecutive cycles. We find that the numerical results are in excellent agreement with experimentally obtained data. Additionally we observe an unexpected filament growth mode that is in contradiction to the widely acknowledged picture of filament growth but consistent with recent experimental findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transport of sputtered aluminum inside a multi frequency capacitively coupled plasma chamber is simulated by means of a kinetic test multi-particle approach. A novel consistent set of scattering parameters obtained for a modified variable hard sphere collision model is presented for both argon and aluminum. An angular dependent Thompson energy distribution is fitted to results from Monte Carlo simulations and used for the kinetic simulation of the transport of sputtered aluminum. For the proposed configuration, the transport of sputtered particles is characterized under typical process conditions at a gas pressure of p = 0.5 Pa. It is found that—due to the peculiar geometric conditions—the transport can be understood in a one dimensional picture, governed by the interaction of the imposed and backscattered particle fluxes. It is shown that the precise geometric features play an important role only in proximity to the electrode edges, where the effect of backscattering from the outside chamber volume becomes the governing mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the measurement of the dynamics of fusion-born alpha particles E α ≤ 3.5 MeV in ITER using collective Thomson scattering (CTS), safe transmission of a gyrotron beam at mm-wavelength (1 MW, 60 GHz) passing the electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) in the in-vessel tokamak "port plug" vacuum is a prerequisite. Depending on neutral gas pressure and composition, ECR-assisted gas breakdown may occur at the location of the resonance, which must be mitigated for diagnostic performance and safety reasons. The concept of a split electrically biased waveguide (SBWG) has been previously demonstrated in C.P. Moeller, U.S. patent 4,687,616 (1987). The waveguide is longitudinally split and a kV bias voltage is applied between the two halves. Electrons are rapidly removed from the central region of high radio frequency electric field strength, mitigating breakdown. As a full scale experimental investigation of gas and electromagnetic field conditions inside the ITER equatorial port plugs is currently unattainable, a corresponding Monte Carlo simulation study is presented. Validity of the Monte Carlo electron model is demonstrated with a prediction of ECR breakdown and the mitigation pressure limits for the above-quoted reference case with 1H2 (and pollutant high Z elements). For the proposed ITER CTS design with a 88.9 mm inner diameter SBWG, ECR breakdown is predicted to occur down to a pure 1H2 pressure of 0.3 Pa, while mitigation is shown to be effective at least up to 10 Pa using a bias voltage of 1 kV. The analysis is complemented by results for relevant electric/magnetic field arrangements and limitations of the SBWG mitigation concept are addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sputter deposition is one of the most important techniques for the fabrication of memristive devices. It allows us to adjust the concentration of defects within the fabricated metal-oxide thin film layers. The defect concentration is important for those memristive devices whose resistance changes during device operation due to the drift of ions within the active layer while an electric field is applied. Reversible change of the resistance is an important property for devices used in neuromorphic circuits to emulate synaptic behavior. These novel bioinspired hardware architectures are ascertained in terms of advantageous features such as lower power dissipation and improved cognitive capabilities compared to state-of-the-art digital electronics. Thus, memristive devices are intensively studied with regard to neuromorphic analog systems. Double-barrier memristive devices with the layer sequence Nb/Al/Al2O3/NbOx/Au are promising candidates to emulate analog synaptic behavior in hardware. Here, the niobium oxide acts as the active layer, in which charged defects can drift due to an applied electric field causing analog resistive switching. In this publication, crucial parameters of the process plasma for thin film deposition, such as floating potential, electron temperature, and the energy flux to the substrate, are correlated with the I-V characteristics of the individual memristive devices. The results from plasma diagnostics are combined with microscopic and simulation methods. Strong differences in the oxidation state of the niobium oxide layers were found by transmission electron microscopy. Furthermore, kinetic Monte Carlo simulations indicate the impact of the defect concentration within the NbOx layer on the I-V hysteresis. The findings may enable a new pathway for the development of plasma-engineered memristive devices tailored for specific application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The etching of sub micrometer high-aspect-ratio (HAR) features into dielectric materials in low pressure radio frequency technological plasmas is limited by the accumulation of positive surface charges inside etch trenches. These are, at least partially, caused by highly energetic positive ions that are accelerated by the sheath electric field to high velocities perpendicular to the wafer. In contrast to these anisotropic ions, thermal electrons typically reach the electrode only during the sheath collapse and cannot penetrate deeply into HAR features to compensate the positive surface charges. This problem causes significant reductions of the etch rate and leads to deformations of the features due to ion deflection, i.e. the aspect ratio is limited. Here, we demonstrate that voltage waveform tailoring can be used to generate electric field reversals adjacent to the wafer during sheath collapse to accelerate electrons towards the electrode to allow them to penetrate deeply into HAR etch features to compensate positive surface charges and to overcome this process limitation. Based on 1D3V particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo collision simulations of a capacitively coupled plasma operated in argon at 1 Pa, we study the effects of changing the shape, peak-to-peak voltage, and harmonics' frequencies of the driving voltage waveform on this electric field reversal as well as on the electron velocity and angular distribution function at the wafer. We find that the angle of incidence of electrons relative to the surface normal at the wafer can be strongly reduced and the electron velocity perpendicular to the wafer can be significantly increased by choosing the driving voltage waveform in a way that ensures a fast and short sheath collapse. This is caused by the requirement of flux compensation of electrons and ions at the electrode on time average in the presence of a short and steep sheath collapse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the key parameters in the context of plasma assisted processing in semiconductor fabrication using capacitive radio-frequency plasmas is the ion flux distribution at the substrate. Whereas the ion energy distribution function determines the etching rate and selectivity, the ion angular distribution controls the etching profile. In this contribution, we reveal the effect of the ion flux and the sheath potential on the ion angular distribution and the direct ion heat flux at the bottom of etching profiles in geometrically symmetric plasma reactors. The ion angular distribution and the direct ion heat flux are calculated as a function of the sheath potential, the driving frequency, and the phase shift between the two distinct harmonics of the driving voltage of dual frequency discharges. For this task, self-consistent particle-in-cell simulations subject to Monte Carlo collision are carried out. The results from particle-in-cell simulations which are computationally very expensive are compared and verified with those from the novel ensemble-in-spacetime model. It is confirmed that increasing the voltage of the high-frequency component, the high-frequency component, and or make a phase shift of л/2 between the dual frequency, narrow the ion angular distribution and increase the direct ion heat flux to the etching profile bottom. In all simulation cases, a correlation between the narrowing of the ion angular distribution and the increase of the sheath potential and the sheath ion flux is found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper provides a tutorial to the conceptual layout of a self-consistently coupled Particle-In-Cell/Test-Particle model for the kinetic simulation of sputtering transport in capacitively coupled plasmas at low gas pressures. It explains when a kinetic approach is needed and which numerical concepts allow for capturing the often observed nonequilibrium behavior of the charged and neutral particles. At the example of a generic sputtering discharge, both the fundamentals of the applied Monte Carlo methods as well as their conceptual details are elaborated on. Finally, two assumptions that are often exploited in the context of sputtering transport simulations, namely on the energy distribution of impinging ions as well as on the test particle approach, are validated for the proposed example discharge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stochastic heating of electrons by the radio frequency boundary sheath in capacitively coupled plasmas is not completely understood or at least agreed upon by researchers. To aid in understanding this phenomena, a conceptually simple simulation of electron heating is presented. A fluid model is used to calculate the electric fields in the discharge, and a Monte Carlo simulation is used to calculate electron distribution functions. The plots of the density of energetic electrons are presented in this paper. They show electron beams that have been accelerated by the sheath. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]