Plasma analysis for the plasma immersion ion implantation processing by a PIC-MCC simulation

Abstract In order to analyze the plasma behavior during PIII processing, a computer simulation has been carried out using the simulation software “PEGASUS”. The software uses a Particle-in-Cell (PIC) method for the movement of charged particles in the electromagnetic field and a Monte Carlo method for collisions of ions, electrons, and neutrals in the plasma and also a Monte Carlo method to analyze the background gas behavior for a low density gas system. This approach is based on the weighting collision simulation scheme allowing for disparate number densities of different species. The spatial distributions of potential and densities of ions, electrons and radicals in the coating system were calculated together with the flux of ions and electrons on the surface of the object. The gas pressure was 0.01 to 50 Pa and a negative and/or a positive pulse voltage ( V max = 0.1 to 20 kV) was applied to the object. The calculation is fully self-consistent. A two-dimensional Cartesian and a cylindrical coordinate system were used. The effects of gas pressure, applied voltage, and secondary electron emission coefficient by ion impact ( γ ) on the sheath thickness, the spatial distribution of densities of electron, ion, and neutral atoms, the ion flux and its spatial distribution, etc. were studied for PIII processing of a trench shaped object, inner wall of a pipe and a PET bottle.