Recent progress in the understanding of electron kinetics in low-pressure inductive plasmas

Kortshagen, Uwe R.; Maresca, Antonio; Orlov, K. E.; Heil, B.

doi:10.1016/s0169-4332(02)00028-4

Cited by 17 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…Kortshagen, Maresca and co-workers have experimentally shown some of Arslanbekov's results. 18,19 However, these experiments were only conducted in the afterglow regime of inductively coupled plasmas, i.e., in transitory regimes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electron energy distribution functions in low-pressure inductively coupled bounded plasmas

Meige

Boswell

2006

Physics of Plasmas

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The electron energy distribution function ͑EEDF͒ in a low-pressure inductively coupled plasma confined between two infinite plates separated by 10 cm is investigated using a one-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation including Monte Carlo collisions. At low pressure, where the electron mean free path is of the order of or greater than the system length, the EEDF is close to Maxwellian, except for its tail, depleted at high energy. We give clear evidence that this depletion is mostly due to the high-energy electrons escaping to the walls. As a result of the EEDF nonlocality, the break energy, for which the depletion of the Maxwellian starts, is found to track the plasma potential. At a higher pressure, the electron mean free paths of the various elastic and inelastic collisions become shorter than the system length, resulting in a loss of nonlocality and the break energy of the distribution function moves to energies lower than the plasma potential.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electron energy distribution functions in low-pressure inductively coupled bounded plasmas

Meige

Boswell

2006

Physics of Plasmas

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“…Low-and intermediate-pressure inductively coupled plasmas ͑ICPs͒ are currently used for etching and deposition in microelectronics fabrication, [1][2][3] fluorescent lighting, 4,5 and for the growth of materials such as aligned carbon nanotubes. 6 Power in ICPs is largely transferred from the radio-frequency ͑rf͒ electric fields to electrons within the electromagnetic skin layer.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Angular anisotropy of electron energy distributions in inductively coupled plasmas

Vasenkov

Kushner

2003

Journal of Applied Physics

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The noncollisional electron transport that is typical of low-pressure ͑Ͻ10 mTorr͒ and low-frequency ͑Ͻ10 MHz͒ inductively coupled plasmas ͑ICPs͒ has the potential to produce highly anisotropic angle-dependent electron energy distributions ͑AEEDs͒. The properties of AEEDs in axially symmetric ICPs were investigated using a Monte Carlo simulation ͑MCS͒ embedded in a two-dimensional plasma equipment model. A method was developed to directly compute the coefficients for a Legendre polynomial expansion of the angular dependence of the distributions during advancement of the trajectories of pseudoelectrons in the MCS. We found significant anisotropy in the AEEDs for transport in the azimuthal-radial plane for a wide range of pressures and frequencies, and attributed this behavior to the superposition of both linear and nonlinear forces. The angular anisotropy of AEEDs in the radial-axial plane in the bulk plasma was found to be significant only when the skin layer was anomalous and nonlinear Lorentz forces are large.

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“…[1][2][3][4][5] These plasma sources are typically used at low pressures (Ͻ10's mTorr) and frequencies (Ͻ10's MHz) to facilitate collisionless ion transport through the sheath, reduce capacitive coupling and manage transmission line effects. 6,7 In this regime, nonlinear electron transport resulting from second harmonic and Pondermotive forces is significant.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Harmonic content and time variation of electron energy distributions in high-plasma-density, low-pressure inductively coupled discharges

Vasenkov

Kushner

2003

Journal of Applied Physics

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Plasma kinetics models which are commonly used to model rf discharges often produce electron energy distributions ͑EEDs͒ averaged over the rf cycle. In doing so, the time dynamics of the EEDs are lost. In this article we describe a technique to recover these time dynamics by using an ''on-the-fly'' ͑OTF͒ Monte Carlo method. The OTF method directly computes the harmonic content of the EEDs using Fourier transform techniques during advancement of the trajectories of pseudoelectrons. The OTF method was incorporated into a two-dimensional plasma equipment model to investigate the harmonic content of the EEDs and their time dependencies in inductively coupled low-pressure (р10 mTorr) and low-frequency (р16 MHz) plasmas sustained in Ar. The computational results demonstrated that the second harmonic dominates the time dynamics of the EEDs, and that this harmonic content mostly occurs at higher energies. The harmonic content at low energies is significant only in the electromagnetic skin layer. We also found that the time evolution of the second harmonic of the EED involves the simultaneous transit of several pulses in energy and space. These pulses are attributed to the nonlinear Lorentz force resulting from the rf magnetic field.

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Recent progress in the understanding of electron kinetics in low-pressure inductive plasmas

Cited by 17 publications

References 56 publications

Electron energy distribution functions in low-pressure inductively coupled bounded plasmas

Electron energy distribution functions in low-pressure inductively coupled bounded plasmas

Angular anisotropy of electron energy distributions in inductively coupled plasmas

Harmonic content and time variation of electron energy distributions in high-plasma-density, low-pressure inductively coupled discharges

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