Plasma processing for advanced microelectronics beyond CMOS

N. Marchack, L. Buzi, DB Farmer, H. Miyazoe, JM Papalia, H. Yan, G. Totir and SU Engelmann, “Plasma Processing for Advanced Microelectronics Beyond CMOS”, Journal of Applied Physics 130, 080901 (2021) https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0053666

ABSTRACT
“The scientific study of plasma discharges and their material interactions has been crucial for the development of semiconductor process engineering and, by extension, for the entire microelectronics industry. In recent years, the proliferation of the big data business model has sparked increased interest in technology candidates that may supplant CMOS architectures in critical metrics such as compute capacity or power consumption. These new technologies share many common hardware elements with existing logic and memory devices, but the impact of mass manufacturing techniques on their performance is largely unknown due to differences in the underlying physics of their operation. Two elements are therefore essential to this endeavor: the fundamental assessment of any emerging interactions between plasma processes and the ability to adapt any aspect of the plasma process necessary to produce the desired specifications. In this article, we review relevant advances in the study of plasma-induced damage mechanisms as well as characterization methods such as diagnostic probes and simulation tools. We also offer perspectives for the application of techniques such as plasma doping, selective zone etching / deposition and heterogeneous integration. The frontiers of any new computing paradigm can only be explored by focusing on engineering at the atomic scale, and advances in plasma science provide the necessary set of tools.

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