Characterization of a large-area plasma generated by electron cyclotron resonance in a permanent-magnet static field

Summary form only given. A large-area microwave plasma source is being developed for applications in the manufacture of flat panel displays. The plasma is generated by a novel permanent-magnet electron-cyclotron resonance (ECR) source. Typical plasma densities in argon are (2-9)/spl times/10/sup 10/, the electron temperature is 2-4 eV, and the plasma potential varies from 12 to 16 V for microwave input power of 150 to 300 W. The vacuum chamber is a cylinder 28 cm long and 25 cm in diameter. A 1-kW, 2.45 GHz microwave source is connected through a circulator and an EH tuner to a horn which expands the microwave aperture to a 15/spl times/20 cm rectangle. The horn is attached to the top plate of the vacuum chamber which holds a 15/spl times/20 cm aluminum 5-slot grill containing 5 rows of permanent magnets. The ECR surface of 875 G is approximately 1 cm from the grill. An alumina window provides a vacuum break and is also designed as a quarter-wavelength matching transformer. Approximately 12.5 cm from the grill there is a wafer holder made of stainless steel and measuring 20 cm in diameter. The volume of the plasma is 14 liters without the wafer holder, and 6 liters with the wafer holder. Thus far the plasma has been characterized with a Langmuir probe using the sweep circuit and analysis technique. A microwave probe is under construction for the analysis of the microwave fields in the plasma.