Robert Weiss¹, *Alexander Welsh¹, Louis Latrasse^2
1Malachite Technologies, San Francisco, CA; ²Sairem Microwave, Décines-Charpieu, France
We have developed a solution to meet the demands of large area microwave plasma processing using arrays of plasma sources, each powered by its own microwave solid state generator operating with variable frequency from 2.4 GHz to 2.5 GHz. KF40-mounted microwave plasma sources provide large-scale etch, film deposition, and substrate modification capabilities with high density, uniform plasmas. Multiple plasma sources can be distributed in the same chamber, each source being controlled independently, adjustable in 1 watt increments from a few watts to 450 watts. Arrays providing uniform high density plasma of 1 square meter have been built. The ‘pixel’ sources have been designed in two configurations: an ECR plasma operable from 10^-2 Pa to a few Pa and collisional plasma operable from 1-100 Pa. We present results demonstrating plasma density and uniformity for various source arrays. Additionally, we present results on thin film depositions including high rate etching of SiO₂ and carbon, and DLC films with over 40 GPa hardness.