原子发射光谱分析技术在大气等离子体抛光工艺研究中的应用

Application of Atomic Emission Spectroscopy Analysis in the Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Polishing Process Study

大气等离子体抛光是一种非接触式的超精密加工方法,它基于低温等离子体化学反应实现原子级的材料去处,避免了表层和亚表层损伤,特别适合于各种难加工材料的超光滑抛光。该方法首次引入了基于电容耦合原理的射频炬式等离子体源,为测试等离子体特性和进行工艺研究,在加工过程中使用微型光纤光谱仪进行光谱监测和采集,进而运用原子发射光谱分析技术初步讨论了射频功率和气体配比对加工过程的影响,分析结果显示:在一定范围内,射频功率对加工速率有着较明显的促进作用,而气体配比对等离子体区成分和表面生成元素的种类影响较大。电子跃迁轨道分析还揭示了处于不同激发态的活性氟原子对应的不同微观状态,为进一步的微观机理研究奠定了理论基础。基于工艺分析的结果,在单晶硅片上实现了Ra0.6nm的表面粗糙度和32mm3·min-1的加工速率。

The atmospheric pressure plasma polishing （APPP） is a novel precision machining technology. It performs the atom scale material removal based on low temperature plasma chemical reactions. As the machining process is chemical in nature, it avoids the surface/subsurface defects usually formed in conventional mechanical machining processes. APPP firstly introduces a capacitance coupled radio frequency （RF） plasma torch to generate reactive plasma and excite chemical reactions further. The removal process is a complicated integrating action which tends to be affected by many factors, such as the gas ratio, the RF power and so on. Therefore, to improve the machining quality, all the aspects should be considered and studied, to establish the foundation for further model building and theoretical analysis. The atomic emission spectroscopy analysis was used to study the process characteristics. A commercial micro spectrometer was used to collect the spectrograms under different parameters, by comparing which the influence of the RF power and gas ratio was initially studied. The analysis results indicate that an increase in RF power results in a higher removal rate within a certain range. The gas ratio doesn＇t show obvious influence on the removal rate and surface roughness in initial experiments, but the element compositions detected by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy technology on the machined surfaces under different ratios really indicate distinct difference. Then the theoretical analysis revealed the corresponding electron transition orbits of the excited reactive fluorine atoms, which is necessary for further mechanism research and apparatus improvement. Then the initial process optimization was made based on the analysis results, by which the Ra 0. 6 nm surface roughness and 32 mm^3 · min^-1 removal rate were achieved on silicon wafers.