Characterization techniques of ion bombardment damage on electronic devices during plasma processing—plasma process-induced damage

Abstract Plasma processing plays an important role in manufacturing leading-edge electronic devices such as ULSI circuits. Reactive ion etching achieves fine patterns with anisotropic features in metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs). In contrast, it has been pointed out over the last four decades that plasma processes not only modify the surface morphology of materials but also degrade the performance and reliability of MOSFETs as a result of defect generation in materials such as crystalline Si substrate and dielectric films. This negative aspect of plasma processing is defined as plasma (process)-induced damage (PID) which is categorized mainly into three mechanisms, i.e. physical, electrical, and photon-irradiation interactions. This article briefly discusses the modeling of PID and provides historical overviews of the characterization techniques of PID, in particular, by the physical interactions, i.e. ion bombardment damage.