Plasma-Induced Formation of Nanoscale Ripple Structures on Surfaces

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15H03582
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Plasma electronics
• Research Institution: Osaka University (2017); Kyoto University (2015-2016)
• Principal Investigator: ONO Kouichi 大阪大学, 接合科学研究所, 特任教授 (30311731)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 江利口 浩二 京都大学, 工学研究科, 教授 (70419448)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: プラズマ加工 / プラズマ化学 / 表面・界面物性 / 半導体超微細化 / 微細加工形状 / 反応粒子輸送 / プラズマエッチング / プラズマ・表面過程揺動

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Nanoscale surface roughening and ripple formation in response to ion incidence angle has been investigated during Si etching in Cl-based plasmas, by employing modeling and simulations of plasma-surface interactions and feature profile evolution: our own three-dimensional atomic-scale cellular model (ASCeM-3D) based on Monte Carlo algorithm, and a classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. Then, based on numerical results, we demonstrated experimentally the plasma-induced formation of well-defined periodic sawtooth-like ripples of wavelength on the order of several 10 nm, using sheath control plates to achieve the off-normal ion incidence on blank substrate surfaces. Moreover, a comparison of experiments with ASCeM-3D and MD simulations revealed the critical role of ion reflection from microstructural feature surfaces on incidence in plasma- and ion-induced surface roughening and rippling.

Free Research Field

電離気体工学，プラズマ物性工学