A Particle-in-Cell simulation of dust charging and shielding in low pressure glow discharges

Journal Article · Fri Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 1994 · IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers); (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1109/27.279017· OSTI ID:7043778

Choi, S J; Kushner, M J ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Illinois, Urbana, IL (United States). Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering

The transport of particles ( dust'') in low pressure electrical glow discharges is being studied in regard to its role in contaminating silicon wafers during plasma etching and deposition. Particles (10s nm-[mu]m) negatively charge in glow discharges and, to first order, appear to be massively large negative ions around which sheaths develop. The forces on particles in plasmas include electrostatic (drift of charged particles in electric fields) and viscous ion drag. The latter force is momentum transfer from ions to particles by either collisions or orbital motion. This force critically depends on the charge on the particle and the shape of the sheath surrounding the particle. In this work, the authors report on a Pseudoparticle-in-Cell (PIC) simulation of the transport of electrons and ions in the vicinity of dust particles in low pressure glow discharges. The simulation produces the electrical charge on the dust particle, the sheath structure around the dust particle and the orbital dynamics of the ions. A companion molecular dynamics simulation uses these parameters to produced ion-dust and electron-dust particle cross sections for momentum transfer and collection. Results will be discussed for charge, sheath thickness, cross sections and viscous ion drag forces on dust particles as a function of radius and plasma parameters.

• OSTI ID: 7043778
• Journal Information: IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers); (United States), Vol. 22:2; ISSN 0093-3813
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
DUSTS
CHARGE COLLECTION
GLOW DISCHARGES
PLASMA SIMULATION
INTEGRATED CIRCUITS
FABRICATION
CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION
CONTAMINATION
ETCHING
PLASMA DRIFT
PLASMA SHEATH
SILICON
THEORETICAL DATA
CHEMICAL COATING
DATA
DEPOSITION
ELECTRIC DISCHARGES
ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS
ELEMENTS
INFORMATION
MICROELECTRONIC CIRCUITS
NUMERICAL DATA
SEMIMETALS
SIMULATION
SURFACE COATING
SURFACE FINISHING
426000* - Engineering- Components
Electron Devices & Circuits- (1990-)
661300 - Other Aspects of Physical Science- (1992-)