Decomposition of SF6 in the plasma medium of an electron beam

Abstract

Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) is commonly used as an etching/etching-aid gas in fabricating the submicrometer features of modern integrated circuits because it has a higher fluorine content than CF4 but does not undergo polymerization. However, the destruction of SF6 has attracted much interest because of the important environmental issues and the toxicity of sulfur compounds. The results of experimental study of plasmachemical processes which are flowing past at injection of a high-current pulsed electron beam in a mixture of the gases SF6, H2, N2, O2 and Ar are introduced. Effective excitation of vibrational levels of the molecules occurs in the plasma of pulsed electron beam. The studies showed that in the conversion of sulfur hexafluoride plasma the electron beam pulse is realized effect. The parameters of electron beam are the following: electron energy is 400–500 keV, pulse duration at the half-height is 60 ns, frequency rate is up to 5 pulses per second, energy per pulse is up to 200 J. The electron beam is injected to the closed reactor through the anode foil. The isotope effect under the action of a pulsed electron beam on a gas mixture is considered.