Modeling and simulation techniques for plasma processes in semiconductor manufacturing have evolved to the point where they may be applied to the mainstream of process engineering development. Initial work stemming from kinetic descriptions of plasma chemistry [1] to 1-dimensional pictures of parallel plate discharges [2,3] to isolated views of microstructure evolution [3] have been supplanted by multidimensional models of complex plasma sources with direct linkage to feature scale phenomena. [4,5] It is increasingly being recognized that understanding a single unit process without cognizance of the process integration implications is of limited value. At Motorola, a suite of computational models has been developed facilitating integrated unit process studies in which multiple unit process steps are linked (e.g., lithography, etch, metallization) and the impact of one on another examined. In this suite the plasma process models are also integrated in the sense that process knobs (e.g., pressure, power and gas mix) are coupled in a quantitative way to processes occurring on surfaces in features. We will describe case studies employing this methodology related to front and back-end processes for CMOS manufacturing. The talk will conclude with a survey of issues related to implementing integrated simulation methodologies into the mainstream of plasma process development.

[1] Plumb, I.C. and Ryan, K.R., Plasma Chemistry and Plasma Processing 6, 205 (1986) [2](for example) Graves, D.B, and Jensen, K.F., IEEE Trans Plasma Sci., 14, 78 (1986) Kushner M.J., IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci.14, 199 (1986), and Barnes, M.S., Colter, T.J., Elta, M.E., J. Appl. Phys., 61, 81 (1987); [3] Hamaguchi, S., Dalvie, M., Farouki R.T, Sethuraman, S., J. Appl. Phys., 74, 172 (1993) [4] Hoekstra, R.J.; Grapperhaus, M.J.; Kushner, M.J. Journal of Vac. Sci. & Technol. A 15, 1913 (1997) [5] Arunachalam, V., Rauf, S., Coronell, D.G., Ventzek, P.L.G., J. Appl. Phys., 90, 64 (2001) [6] Zhang, D., Rauf, S., Sparks, T., Ventzek, P.L.G., 201st Meeting of the Electrochemical Society, Plasma Processing XIV, Paper 408, Philadelphia PA USA, May 13, 2002.