Electron energy probability function and L-p similarity in low pressure inductively coupled bounded plasma

Frontiers in Physics

Charles, Christine¹  Boswell, Rod¹  Bhattacharjee, Sudeep²  Chatterjee, Sanghamitro² 

[1] Space Plasma, Power and Propulsion Laboratory, Research School of Physics and Engineering, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia;Waves and Beams Laboratory, Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, Kanpur, India

关键词: Particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations;    Electron energy probability function (EEPF);    inductively coupled plasma (ICP);    Maxwellian distribution;    Particle balance;    L-p similarity;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fphy.2015.00007

学科分类：物理（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Particle-In-Cell (PIC) simulations are carried out to investigate the effect of discharge length (L) and pressure (p) on Electron Energy Probability Function (EEPF) in a low pressure radio frequency (rf) inductively coupled plasma at 13.56 MHz. It is found that for both cases of varying L (0.1 - 0.5 m) and p (1 - 10 mTorr), the EEPF is a bi-Maxwellian with a step in the bounded direction (x) and in the symmetric unbounded directions (y, z) the EEPF are a Maxwellian with a hot tail. The plasma space potential decreases with increase in both L and p, the trapped electrons having energies in the range 0 to 20 eV. In a conventional discharge bounded in all directions, we infer that L and p are similarity parameters for low energy electrons trapped in the bulk plasma that have energies below the plasma space potential (eVp). The simulation results are consistent with a particle balance model.

【 授权许可】

CC BY