During fluorocarbon plasma etching, plasma-surface reactions result in the
surface acting as either a source or sink for reactive species, thereby imp
acting the properties of the bulk plasma. For example, experiments have sho
wn that surfaces in radio frequency (rf) capacitively coupled discharges ca
n be either sources or sinks of CF2 depending on, among other properties, t
he sheath potential. The coupling of rf bulk and surface reactions, and the
ir combined effects on the CF2 density, were investigated using an integrat
ed plasma equipment and surface kinetics model. While CF2 sticking on surfa
ces led to its loss, CF2 can be generated from surfaces by energetic ion bo
mbardment resulting in sputtering of polymeric films, or neutralization and
dissociation of ions. The net effect of a surface for CF2 production depen
ds on the relative rates of these loss and generation processes. A surface
can transform from a net CF2 sink at low incident ion energies to a CF2 sou
rce at high ion energies because the CF2 yield by ion-surface interactions
typically increases with increasing ion energy. The sensitivity of the mode
l to probabilities of major surface reactions was also investigated. (C) 20
00 American Vacuum Society. [S0734-2101(00)05106-X].