The ionization dynamics in geometrically symmetric parallel plate capacitively coupled plasmas driven by radio frequency tailored voltage waveforms is investigated using phase resolved optical emission spectroscopy (PROES) and particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. Temporally asymmetric waveforms induce spatial asymmetries and offer control of the spatiotemporal dynamics of electron heating and associated ionization structures. Sawtooth waveforms with different rise and fall rates are employed using truncated Fourier series approximations of an ideal sawtooth. Experimental PROES results obtained in argon plasmas are compared with PIC simulations, showing excellent agreement. With waveforms comprising a fast voltage drop followed by a slower rise, the faster sheath expansion in front of the powered electrode causes strongly enhanced ionization in this region. The complementary waveform causes an analogous effect in front of the grounded electrode.

Low-pressure capacitively coupled radio frequency discharges operated in O 2 and driven by tailored voltage waveforms are investigated experimentally and by means of kinetic simulations. Pulse-type (peaks/valleys) and sawtooth-type voltage waveforms that consist of up to four consecutive harmonics of the fundamental frequency are used to study the amplitude asymmetry effect as well as the slope asymmetry effect at different fundamental frequencies (5, 10, and 15 MHz) and at different pressures (50-700 mTorr). Values of the DC self-bias determined experimentally and spatio-temporal excitation rates derived from phase resolved optical emission spectroscopy measurements are compared with particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo collisions simulations. The spatio-temporal distributions of the excitation rate obtained from experiments are well reproduced by the simulations. Transitions of the discharge electron heating mode from the drift-ambipolar mode to the α-mode are induced by changing the number of consecutive harmonics included in the driving voltage waveform or by changing the gas pressure. Changing the number of harmonics in the waveform has a strong effect on the electronegativity of the discharge, on the generation of the DC self-bias and on the control of ion properties at the electrodes, both for pulse-type, as well as sawtooth-type driving voltage waveforms The effect of the surface quenching rate of oxygen singlet delta metastable molecules on the spatio-temporal excitation patterns is also investigated.

Using particle-in-cell simulations, we predict that it is possible to obtain a significant difference between the ion flux to the powered electrode and that to the grounded electrode-with about 50% higher ion flux on one electrode-in a geometrically symmetric, radiofrequency capacitively-coupled plasma reactor by applying a non-sinusoidal, 'Tailored' voltage waveform. This sawtooth-like waveform presents different rising and falling slopes over one cycle. We show that this effect is due to differing plasma sheath motion in front of each electrode, which induces a higher ionization rate in front of the electrode which has the fastest positive rising voltage. Together with the higher ion flux comes a lower voltage drop across the sheath, and therefore a reduced maximum ion bombardment energy; a result in contrast to typical process control mechanisms.

Through the use of particle-in-cell simulations, we study the ion flux asymmetry in an argon discharge that is induced by a 'sawtooth-like' excitation voltage waveform. In a previous article we have shown that, due to their differing rising and falling slopes, these waveforms can create a plasma with a significantly higher ion flux to one electrode in a geometrically symmetric reactor. Furthermore, they have the unique property of providing a lower ion energy at the electrode with a higher ion flux. In the present work, we show that a refined waveform allows the ion flux asymmetry to be increased for a given number of harmonics by reducing the ionization rate in front of the low-flux electrode. The flux asymmetry is found to disappear at low pressure due to the increased electron energy transport, which causes a transition from sheath edge ionization to bulk ionization. Changing the fundamental frequency is shown to have two counterbalancing effects: reducing the ionization on the low ion-flux electrode and shifting the maximum ionization to the center of the discharge. Under the representative conditions that we have studied, a maximum asymmetry is found for a base frequency of 3.4 MHz. Finally, it is shown that, by adjusting the rise-to fall-time ratio of the refined waveforms, the ion-flux asymmetry can be continuously shifted from one electrode to the other.

Tailored voltage excitation waveforms provide an eficient control of the ion energy (through the electrical asymmetry effect) in capacitive plasmas by varying the 'amplitude' asymmetry of the waveform. In this work, the effect of a 'slope' asymmetry of the waveform is investigated by using sawtooth-like waveforms, through which the sheath dynamic can be manipulated. A remarkably different discharge dynamic is found for Ar, H 2 , and CF 4 gases, which is explained by the different dominant electron heating mechanisms and plasma chemistries. In comparison to Argon we ind that the electrical asymmetry can even be reversed by using an electronegative gas such as CF 4. Phase resolved optical emission spectroscopy measurements, probing the spatiotemporal distribution of the excitation rate show excellent agreement with the results of particle-in-cell simulations, conirming the high degree of correlation between the excitation rates with the dominant heating mechanisms in the various gases. It is shown that, depending on the gas used, sawtooth-like voltage waveforms may cause a strong asymmetry.

The power absorption dynamics of electrons and the electrical asymmetry effect in capacitive radio-frequency plasmas operated in CF 4 and driven by tailored voltage waveforms are investigated experimentally in combination with kinetic simulations. The driving voltage waveforms are generated as a superposition of multiple consecutive harmonics of the fundamental frequency of 13.56 MHz. Peaks/valleys and sawtooth waveforms are used to study the effects of amplitude and slope asymmetries of the driving voltage waveform on the electron dynamics and the generation of a DC self-bias in an electronegative plasma at different pressures. Compared to electropositive discharges, we observe strongly different effects and unique power absorption dynamics. At high pressures and high electronegativities, the discharge is found to operate in the drift-ambipolar (DA) heating mode. A dominant excitation/ionization maximum is observed during sheath collapse at the edge of the sheath which collapses fastest. High negative-ion densities are observed inside this sheath region, while electrons are confined for part of the RF period in a potential well formed by the ambipolar electric field at this sheath edge and the collapsed (floating potential) sheath at the electrode. For specific driving voltage waveforms, the plasma becomes divided spatially into two different halves of strongly different electronegativity. This asymmetry can be reversed electrically by inverting the driving waveform. For sawtooth waveforms, the discharge asymmetry and the sign of the DC self-bias are found to reverse as the pressure is increased, due to a transition of the electron heating mode from the α-mode to the DA-mode. These effects are interpreted with the aid of the simulation results.

Parallel plate capacitively coupled plasmas in hydrogen at relatively high pressure (~1 Torr) are excited with tailored voltage waveforms containing up to five frequencies. Predictions of a hybrid model combining a particle-in-cell simulation with Monte Carlo collisions and a fluid model are compared to phase resolved optical emission spectroscopy measurements, yielding information on the dynamics of the excitation rate in these discharges. When the discharge is excited with amplitude asymmetric waveforms, the discharge becomes electrically asymmetric, with different ion energies at each of the two electrodes. Unexpectedly, large differences in the H 2 + fluxes to each of the two electrodes are caused by the different H 3 + energies. When the discharge is excited with slope asymmetric waveforms, only weak electrical asymmetry of the discharge is observed. In this case, electron power absorption due to fast sheath expansion at one electrode is balanced by electron power absorption at the opposite electrode due to a strong electric field reversal.

The use of Tailored Voltage Waveforms is a technique wherein one uses non-sinusoidal waveforms with a period equivalent to RF frequencies to excite a plasma. It has been shown to be an effective technique to decouple maximum Ion Bombardment Energy (IBE) from the ion flux at the surface of the electrodes. In this paper, we use it for the first time as a way to scan through the IBE in order to study the growth mechanism of hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon using a SiH4/H2 chemistry. We find that at critical energies, a stepwise increase in the amorphous to microcrystalline transition thickness is observed, as detected by Real Time Spectroscopic Ellipsometry. The same energy thresholds (30 eV and 70 eV) are found to be very influential on the final surface morphology of the samples, as observed by Atomic Force Microscopy. These thresholds correspond to SiHx+ bulk displacement (30 eV) and Hx+ (70 eV) surface displacement energies. A model is therefore proposed to account for the impact of these ions on the morphology of μc-Si:H growth.