Study of Sputtering Mechanism of Silicon with Hydrogen Plasma Controlled by Magnetic Field

Abstract

The sputtering mechanism of silicon in rf hydrogen plasma has been studied by controlling plasma density at silicon surface. The amounts of ionic and neutral species have been measured as functions of the magnetic field. We have observed that the amount of each neutral species shows a different dependence on the magnetic field. It is found that the silicon target is sputtered by mainly forming neutral SiH₂ and SiH₃ species into plasma. The amount of ionic species changes linearly with increase in the magnetic field. There is no direct relationship between the amount of ionic species and the corresponding neutral species.