Development of Real Time in-situ Plasma Process Monitoring

"This EngD project aims to develop a novel mass spectrometer tailored for identifying unwanted
polymers in plasma processing tools. A compact time-of-flight (TOF) analyser is being developed
to overcome the upper mass limitations of current commercial devices. The project's initial phase
involved developing a proprietary code for simulating ion movement within the TOF mass analyser.
Monte Carlo simulations were used to explore parameters such as length, space focusing, and applied electric field strength, with the goal of optimising mass resolution. With the mass spectrometer's design now optimised, current efforts are focused on constructing the detector to
maximise the signal-to-noise ratio. This will enable the detection of polymers even at trace levels, ensuring the tool's efficacy in plasma processing applications. Upon completion of the fabrication phase, the project will proceed to conduct a case study to evaluate the tool's performance in plasma processing and benchmarked against current commercially available tools. This project is conducted in collaboration with Oxford Instruments Plasma Technology, with work carried out at QUB this year and planned for years 2 & 3 at OIPT. "