Ion-neutral and neutral-neutral scattering in argon at KeV energies and implications for high-aspect-ratio etching

TL;DR

This paper presents a physical model and Monte Carlo simulation for predicting angular distributions of energetic argon atoms and ions, exploring charge-exchange neutralization for high-aspect-ratio etching.

Contribution

It introduces a new, straightforward model and simulation scheme for ion-neutral scattering in argon at KeV energies, aiding HAR etching process development.

Findings

Model accurately predicts angular distributions of argon ions and neutrals.

Simulation demonstrates charge-exchange neutralization as effective for generating neutral beams.

Tools are simple and useful for prototyping in plasma etching applications.

Abstract

In this study, we report a physical model and a Monte Carlo simulation scheme developed to predict the angular distributions of energetic argon atoms and ions as an ion beam passes through a gas-filled volume. The study explores charge-exchange neutralization as a method for generating fast neutral beams suitable for low-damage, high aspect ratio (HAR) etching. The proposed model and simulation code are straightforward and compact, potentially making them useful tools for prototyping.