Electron energy distribution etch gases

In Equation 3, e and m are the impinging electron energy and mass, (e) is the reaction cross section, and / (e) is the electron energy distribution function. Of course, if an accurate expression for fie) and if electron collision cross sections for the various gas phase species present are known, k can be calculated. Unfortunately, such information is generally unavailable for the types of molecules used in plasma etching. 

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