Generation and Applications of a Broad Atomic Oxygen Beam with a High Flux‐Density via Collision‐Induced Dissociation of O2

Abstract

Comprehensive SummaryWe detail the generation of a pulsed atomic oxygen (AO) broad beam with a high flux‐density via collision‐induced dissociation of O2 to support practical industrial exploitation of AOs, particularly for facilitating 2‐dimenstional oxidation/etching at a fast rate of one‐monolayer per second in an area ≥ 1000 cm2. This innovation fuses the following interdisciplinary concepts: (a) a high density of O+ can be produced in an electron‐cyclotron‐resonance (ECR) O2 plasma; (b) O+ can be extracted and accelerated with an aperture‐electrode in the plasma; (c) O+ with adequate kinetic energy can initiate a cascade of gas‐phase collisions in the presence of O2; (d) collision‐induced dissociation of O2 yields AOs with adequate kinetic energy which can cause additional collision‐induced dissociation of O2. Computational simulations of such collisions, with both ab initio molecular dynamics and direct simulation Monte Carlo methods, are used to guide the experimental generation of the proposed AO‐beam. We experimentally demonstrate the highest known AO mean flux‐density of about 1.5 × 1016 atoms·cm–2·s–1 in a broad‐beam, and use it to oxidatively modify a self‐assembled molecular layer of siloxane on a silicon wafer. In addition, we also demonstrate the growth of Al2O3 through an AO‐assisted atomic layer deposition process at room temperature.