High-density Plasma for Efficient Manufacturing of Electronic Devices

等离子体技术在诸如平板显示器、计算机芯片和太阳能电池板等电子设备的制造中起着关键作用。目前用于制造的工业等离子体受到多种限制，包括低等离子体密度（其减慢处理）、大面积上的差的均匀性、等离子体和所得材料的污染以及低效的能量使用。该奖项支持使用独特的磁增强感应等离子体源进行高密度等离子体的基础研究。从研究中获得的新知识将导致新型等离子体源，使电子设备和各种薄膜产品的高效制造成为可能，大大降低消费电子产品的成本，促进清洁能源的采用，并减少制造对环境的负面影响。该项目将加强大学与产业的合作，提高美国电子行业的经济竞争力。它还将通过培训学生和吸引当地部落学生学习科学和工程，促进劳动力发展。 工业等离子体由强电磁场产生。等离子体处理的效率主要取决于等离子体密度、等离子体温度以及电子和离子的能量分布。传统的低密度等离子体由允许高能电子容易地从等离子体区域逃逸的非受限电磁场激发，而高密度等离子体可以由将高能电子保留在等离子体区域内以大大延长其寿命的受限电磁场产生。约束电场和磁场同时作用，对等离子体产生相互作用。关于由受限电磁场产生的高密度等离子体的性质以及主要感应参数（激励频率和磁场分布）对等离子体性质的影响知之甚少。为了填补这一知识空白，研究团队将执行三项任务。首先，使用专用软件COMSOL建立等离子体模拟模型，描述等离子体的基本特性（包括等离子体密度、等离子体温度、电子和离子的能量分布）。其次，利用所建立的模型预测了激励频率和磁场分布对等离子体特性的影响。最后通过实验验证了部分预测结果。例如，等离子体区域的有限数量的点处的等离子体密度和电子能量分布将使用朗缪尔探针测量，并且整个等离子体区域上的等离子体密度将使用光发射光谱仪间接测量。

Plasma technology plays a critical role in manufacturing of electronic devices, such as flat panel displays, computer chips, and solar panels. Industry plasmas currently used for manufacturing suffer from multiple limitations, including low plasma density (which slows processing), poor uniformity over large areas, contamination of plasma and the resulting materials, and inefficient energy use. This award supports fundamental research on high-density plasma using a unique magnetically enhanced inductive plasma source. New knowledge obtained from the research will lead to novel plasma sources that enable efficient manufacturing of electronic devices and various thin-film products, significantly reducing the costs of consumer electronics, promoting the adoption of clean energy, and reducing the negative impact of manufacturing on the environment. This project will strengthen university-industry collaboration and economic competitiveness of the U.S. electronics industry. It will also contribute to workforce development by training students and attracting local tribal students to science and engineering. Industry plasmas are created by strong electromagnetic fields. The efficiency of plasma processing is mainly determined by plasma density, plasma temperature, and energy distribution of electrons and ions. Conventional low-density plasmas are excited by unconfined electromagnetic fields that allow energetic electrons to escape easily from the plasma region, while high-density plasmas can be created by confined electromagnetic fields that retain energetic electrons within the plasma region to greatly extend their lifetime. The confined electric and magnetic fields act simultaneously and have interaction effects on the plasma. Little is known about the properties of high-density plasma created by confined electromagnetic fields and the effects of the primary induction parameters (excitation frequency and magnetic field distribution) on plasma properties. To fill this knowledge gap, the research team will perform three tasks. First, establish a plasma simulation model using dedicated software COMSOL to describe fundamental plasma properties (including plasma density, plasma temperature, and energy distribution of electrons and ions). Second, use the established model to predict effects of excitation frequency and magnetic field distribution on plasma properties. Finally, verify some of the predicted results by experiments. For example, plasma density and electron energy distribution at a limited number of points of the plasma region will be measured using a Langmuir probe, and plasma density over the entire plasma region will be indirectly measured using an optical emission spectrometer.