Molecular dynamics study of the interaction between Ar atom and graphite

doi:10.7523/j.ucas.2023.064

Abstract

Abstract: In EUV(extreme ultraviolet) lithography machines, multilayer mirrors may be contaminated by carbon deposition when exposed to high-energy EUV radiation. The reflectivity of the mirror is therefore reduced, thereby reducing the service life of the lithography machine. The EUV induced plasma produced by the ionization of the background gas by EUV light has a good cleaning effect on the deposited carbon. In this paper, molecular dynamics method is used to simulate the interaction process between Ar ions of plasma and graphitic deposited carbon. A comprehensive study has been carried out from the adsorption of Ar on the graphite surface to the cumulative irradiation of independent Ar and a large amount of Ar on the graphite surface. The results show that Ar has the most stable adsorption structure at the Hollow site on the graphite surface. When Ar diffuses on the graphite surface, it tends to diffuse through the Bridge site in the middle of the C-C bond to the adjacent Hollow site. When a single independent energetic Ar impinges on the surface of graphite, there would be three phenomena: reflection, adsorption and diffusion. It mainly depends on the site of incident Ar on the graphite. When a large amount of Ar accumulatively irradiates graphite, a variety of defects will occur and continue to develop depending on the amount and energy of incident Ar. As a result, the strength of the graphite layer is greatly reduced and even physical sputtering effects occur.

Key words: molecular dynamics, EUV induced plasma, graphite, carbon cleaning

CLC Number:

O369

WU Wei, YU Xin. Molecular dynamics study of the interaction between Ar atom and graphite[J]. Journal of University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 2025, 42(4): 441-449.

References

[1] Wei Y Y, Brainard R L. Advanced processes for 193-nm immersion lithography[M]. Bellingham, Wash.: SPIE Press, 2009. DOI: 10.1117/3.820233.
[2] Wieggers R C, Goedheer W J, Akdim M R, et al. A particle-in-cell plus Monte Carlo study of plasma-induced damage of normal incidence collector optics used in extreme ultraviolet lithography[J]. Journal of Applied Physics, 2008, 103(1): 013308. DOI: 10.1063/1.2829783.
[3] Oestreich S, Klein R, Scholze F, et al. Multilayer reflectance during exposure to EUV radiation[C]//International Symposium on Optical Science and Technology. Proc SPIE 4146, Soft X-Ray and EUV Imaging Systems, San Diego, CA, USA. 2000, 4146: 64-71. DOI: 10.1117/12.406677.
[4] Meiling H, Meijer H, Banine V, et al. First performance results of the ASML alpha demo tool[C]//SPIE 31st International Symposium on Advanced Lithography. Proc SPIE 6151, Emerging Lithographic Technologies X, San Jose, California, USA. 2006, 6151: 49-60. DOI: 10.1117/12.657348.
[5] 鹿国庆, 卢启鹏, 彭忠琦, 等. 极紫外光学元件表面碳污染模型的建立[J]. 光学学报, 2013, 33(12): 366-372.10.3788/aos201333.1234001.
[6] Chen J Q, Louis E, Harmsen R, et al. In situ ellipsometry study of atomic hydrogen etching of extreme ultraviolet induced carbon layers[J]. Applied Surface Science, 2011, 258(1): 7-12. DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2011.07.121.
[7] van der Velden M H L, Brok W J M, van der Mullen J J A M, et al. Kinetic simulation of an extreme ultraviolet radiation driven plasma near a multilayer mirror[J]. Journal of Applied Physics, 2006, 100(7): 073303. DOI: 10.1063/1.2356085.
[8] van der Velden M H L, Brok W J M, van der Mullen J J A M, et al. Particle-in-cell Monte Carlo simulations of an extreme ultraviolet radiation driven plasma[J]. Physical Review. E, Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics, 2006, 73(3 Pt 2): 036406. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.73.036406.
[9] Wieggers R C, Goedheer W J, Louis E, et al. Plasma-induced damage of multilayer coatings in EUVL[C]//International Congress on Optics and Optoelectronics. Proc SPIE 6586, Damage to VUV, EUV, and X-Ray Optics, Prague, Czech Republic. 2007, 6586: 151-162. DOI: 10.1117/12.724889.
[10] Wang S S, Ye Z B, Pu G, et al. In-situ non-destructive removal of tin particles by low-energy plasma for imitation of EUV optical mirrors self-cleaning[J]. Vacuum, 2023, 212: 111963. DOI: 10.1016/j.vacuum.2023.111963.
[11] Liang G Y, Zhong H W, Zhang S J, et al. Molecular dynamics study of damage nearby silicon surface bombarded by energetic carbon ions[J]. Surface and Coatings Technology, 2020, 385: 125350. DOI: 10.1016/j.surfcoat.2020.125350.
[12] Fu B Q, Wang J, Qiu M J, et al. Retention/reflection of hydrogen and surface evolution during cumulative bombardment of low-energy hydrogen on tungsten: a molecular dynamics study[J]. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions With Materials and Atoms, 2020, 462: 55-61. DOI: 10.1016/j.nimb.2019.11.002.
[13] Zhang M, Rao Z X, Kim K S, et al. Molecular dynamics simulation of stress induced by energetic particle bombardment in Mo thin films[J]. Materialia, 2021, 16: 101043. DOI: 10.1016/j.mtla.2021.101043.
[14] Lopez-Cazalilla A, Jussila J, Nordlund K, et al. Effect of surface morphology on Tungsten sputtering yields[J]. Computational Materials Science, 2023, 216: 111876. DOI: 10.1016/j.commatsci.2022.111876.
[15] Ito A, Nakamura H. Molecular dynamics simulation of collisions between hydrogen and graphite[J]. Journal of Plasma Physics, 2006, 72(6): 805. DOI: 10.1017/s0022377806005289.
[16] Ito A, Nakamura H, Takayama A. Molecular dynamics simulation of the chemical interaction between hydrogen atom and graphene[J]. Journal of the Physical Society of Japan, 2008, 77(11): 114602. DOI: 10.1143/jpsj.77.114602.
[17] Ito A, Nakamura H. Molecular dynamics simulation of bombardment of hydrogen atoms on graphite surface[J]. Communications in Computational Physics, 2008, 4(3):592-610.
[18] Gołuński M, Hrabar S, Postawa Z. Mechanisms of particle ejection from free-standing two-layered graphene stimulated by keV argon gas cluster projectile bombardment - Molecular dynamics study[J]. Surface and Coatings Technology, 2020, 391: 125683. DOI: 10.1016/j.surfcoat.2020.125683.
[19] Zabihi Z, Araghi H. Formation of nanopore in a suspended graphene sheet with argon cluster bombardment: a molecular dynamics simulation study[J]. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions With Materials and Atoms, 2015, 343: 48-51. DOI: 10.1016/j.nimb.2014.11.022.
[20] Sirotkin V V. Molecular dynamics study of the interaction of accelerated Argon atoms with a pyrolytic carbon surface[J]. Bulletin of the Russian Academy of Sciences: Physics, 2020, 84(6): 693-697. DOI: 10.3103/S1062873820060258.
[21] Zhang X, Cao S W, Li Z, et al. Collisions of noble gas atoms with graphene and a graphene nanodome[J]. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics: PCCP, 2018, 20(9): 6515-6523. DOI: 10.1039/c7cp07548k.
[22] Plimpton S. Fast parallel algorithms for short-range molecular dynamics[J]. Journal of Computational Physics, 1995, 117(1): 1-19. DOI: 10.1006/jcph.1995.1039.
[23] Brenner D W, Shenderova O A, Harrison J A, et al. A second-generation reactive empirical bond order (REBO) potential energy expression for hydrocarbons[J]. Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter, 2002, 14(4): 783-802. DOI: 10.1088/0953-8984/14/4/312.
[24] Stuart S J, Tutein A B, Harrison J A. A reactive potential for hydrocarbons with intermolecular interactions[J]. The Journal of Chemical Physics, 2000, 112(14): 6472-6486. DOI: 10.1063/1.481208.
[25] Inui N. Molecular dynamics simulations of Lennard-Jones systems confined between suspended nanoscale graphene sheets[J]. Physical Review E, 2019, 99: 022102. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.99.022102.
[26] Geim A K, Novoselov K S. The rise of graphene[J]. Nature Materials, 2007, 6(3): 183-191. DOI: 10.1038/nmat1849.
[27] Hoover W G. Canonical dynamics: equilibrium phase-space distributions[J]. Physical Review. A, General Physics, 1985, 31(3): 1695-1697. DOI: 10.1103/physreva.31.1695.
[28] Ji Z, Contreras-Torres F F, Jalbout A F, et al. Surface diffusion and coverage effect of Li atom on graphene as studied by several density functional theory methods[J]. Applied Surface Science, 2013, 285: 846-852. DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2013.08.140.
[29] Henkelman G, Jónsson H. Improved tangent estimate in the nudged elastic band method for finding minimum energy paths and saddle points[J]. The Journal of Chemical Physics, 2000, 113(22): 9978-9985. DOI: 10.1063/1.1323224.
[30] Stone A J, Wales D J. Theoretical studies of icosahedral C₆₀ and some related species[J]. Chemical Physics Letters, 1986, 128(5/6): 501-503. DOI: 10.1016/0009-2614(86)80661-3.
[31] Yamamura Y, Tawara H. Energy dependence of ion-induced sputtering yields from monatomic solids at normal incidence[J]. Atomic Data and Nuclear Data Tables, 1996, 62(2): 149-253. DOI: 10.1006/adnd.1996.0005.