Development of a System for Studies of Surface Structure during Plasma Processing and Student Training

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This award from the Instrumentation for Materials Research Program in DMR supports instrument development and student training at Boston University. The new system under development will enable, for the first time, the in-situ study with synchrotron x-ray radiation of materials' surface structure while undergoing plasma processing. The system will permit both a realistic plasma processing environment and the necessary diagnostic access while conforming to the space afforded by a standard four-circle diffractometer. An important advantage of the system is its portability, permitting transport between the synchrotron and other laboratories for multiple process characterizations. Initial studies with the system will concentrate on silicon surfaces undergoing high density plasma etching to address the void of data available on the structure of such surfaces. Future applications of the equipment will be directed at compound semiconductor surfaces.%%%This award from the Instrumentation for Materials Research Program in DMR supports instrument development and student training at Boston University. Faculty and students at Boston University are developing a system that will enable study of the atomic structure of surfaces as they are being bombarded by energetic particles in a set of processes known collectively as "plasma processing". Such information will advance our fundamental understanding of these important techniques that are widely used in the fabrication of integrated circuits and microwave devices. The system will allow the integration of a reactor used for plasma processing of materials into a high flux x-ray characterization facility. The high flux of x-rays will permit atomic surface structure characterization during plasma processing for the first time.