Characteristics of low energy atom and molecule beams generated by the charge exchange reaction

A low energy NB source, which consisted of a surface wave plasma (SWP) source and two large diameter carbon electrodes, was developed for damageless etching of ultralarge-scale integrated devices. Ion beams were extracted from the SWP using two carbon electrodes, accelerated and injected to the process chamber, and then neutralized without energy loss by a charge exchange reaction. The energy distribution functions of an Ar ion beam and an Ar atom beam was observed using a quadrupole mass spectroscope equipped with an energy analyzer. The energy of the Ar ion beam and the Ar atom beam was controlled by the acceleration voltage. N 2 ion and N ion beams were also extracted from a nitrogen plasma source. The intensity ratio of the N ion beam to the N 2 ion beam was 5:9, indicating that N ions were efficiently generated in the nitrogen SWP. The N 2 ion and N ion beams were changed to N 2 molecule and N atom beams, respectively, through a charge exchange reaction without energy loss. The energy of these beams was controlled by the acceleration voltage and was in the region less of than 100 eV . When the acceleration voltage is higher than 40 V , not only the primary peaks due to the N 2 ion beam or N ion beam were observed but also a low energy second peak was observed in the energy distribution. The energy of the low energy second peak was controlled by the acceleration voltage. It was concluded that the low energy second peak corresponds to the N 2 molecule ion beam and the N ion beam, which is extracted from the second plasma generated in the space between the two carbon electrodes.