Nanocalorimetry for plasma metrology relevant to semiconductor fabrication

Published

February 4, 2025

Author(s)

John Diulus, Carles Corbella Roca, Feng Yi, David LaVan, Berc Kalanyan, Mark McLean, Lakshmi Ravi Narayan, William Osborn, James Maslar, Andrei Kolmakov

Abstract

This letter reports on pilot tests of microfabricated nanocalorimeters as a metrology platform for the rapid (sub-100 ms response time) and sensitive detection of neutral radicals generated by reactive cold plasmas, typical in plasma cleaning applications. The setup consists of a catalytically active sensor and an inert reference sensor, both with identical thermal masses. By measuring the temperature increase in the active sensor, caused by radical surface recombination reactions, and comparing it to the reference sensor, we can effectively isolate and discriminate against parasitic stimuli such as IR/visible/UV radiation and ion or electron fluxes. The system was successfully tested in a hydrogen plasma environment, and key performance metrics such as sensitivity and response time were evaluated and benchmarked against existing plasma diagnostic techniques.

Citation

Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A

Volume

43

Issue

2

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1116/6.0004294

Local Download

Keywords

nanocalorimetry, plasma, semiconductor, process

Citation

Diulus, J. , Corbella Roca, C. , Yi, F. , LaVan, D. , Kalanyan, B. , McLean, M. , Ravi Narayan, L. , Osborn, W. , Maslar, J. and Kolmakov, A. (2025), Nanocalorimetry for plasma metrology relevant to semiconductor fabrication, Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A, [online], https://doi.org/10.1116/6.0004294, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=958828 (Accessed October 13, 2025)