Effect of electron temperature and electron density on topography dependent charging (TDC) damage in inductively coupled plasma etching tool

We investigated the correlation between electron temperature, electron density and topography dependent charging (TDC) damage in an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) metal etching tool. TDC damage was evaluated by controlling both electron temperature and density. The primary result is that TDC damage depends more strongly on electron density than on electron temperature. This remarkable result suggests that TDC damage could be minimized by lowering plasma density to as low as 10/sup 10/ cm/sup -3/, even if electron temperature is still high at around 4 eV or more.