Control of electron energy distribution by adding a pulse inductive field in capacitive discharge

Abstract

Drastic changes in the electron energy distribution (EED) and the plasma parameter caused by a pulse-modulated (PM) inductive field were observed in a low-gas pressure capacitively coupled plasma (CCP). By applying a small amount of the PM inductive power (20 W) in the CCP, the effective electron temperature (Teff) was increased without a variation of the plasma density (ne) due to the low energy electron heating by the inductive field. When a large amount of the PM inductive power of 50 W was applied to the CCP, both the Teff and the ne were increased because of the electron heating through the coupling effect of the inductive and capacitive fields. These results show that Teff and ne can be controlled independently or simultaneously in the plasmas by adding the pulse inductive field.