Bridging the gap between fluid and kinetic plasma simulations for industrial plasma sources

Development of advanced plasma tools for ion implantation and etching segments of semiconductor processing industry requires deep and detailed understanding of underlying physical processes. Comprehensive plasma modeling is typically used to address these problems. In most cases, fluid or hybrid models provide satisfactory results. However, with development of supercomputing facilities, Particle-in-Cell (PIC) methods show substantial value in addressing industrial problems. In this presentation, two types of industrial plasma sources will be explored using fluid and PIC approaches. First one is hot cathode magnetized ion source used in ion implantation. This source operates in mTorr range pressure with ~100G magnetic field confining plasmas with 10¹¹ - 10¹² cm^-3 densities. The detailed analysis of source operation using hybrid and PIC plasma models will be presented and specific problems each numerical approach can address will be discussed. Second one is low pressure ICP source for ribbon beam plasma processing. This source also operate in mTorr pressure range with or without external magnetic field. The talk will address plasma diffusion using fluid and PIC simulations and discuss effects of the gas pressure, power and source geometry. Benchmarking against experimental data will also be discussed.