Systematic simulations of plasma structures in chlorine radio frequency discharges

The discharge plasmas of electronegative gases such as chlorine are often used for etching poly-Si in the ultralarge-scale integrated (ULSI) manufacturing process. In the present work, systematic self-consistent particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo simulations are performed for a weakly ionized chlorine plasmas produced by a radio frequency discharge between parallel electrodes. Particle collisions are described using a set of cross section data and effective theoretical models. The effects on the plasma structure of the applied voltage, the gas pressure, the secondary electron emission coefficient, the distance between the electrodes and pi -scattering are investigated in detail using a supercomputer.