Correlation between vibrational temperature of N2 and plasma parameters in inductively coupled Ar/N2 plasmas

Abstract

Vibrational temperature (Tvib) of N2 gas and electron energy distribution function (EEDF) were measured in Ar/N2 mixture inductively coupled plasma (ICP). At a low gas pressure of 5 mTorr where the EEDF is bi-Maxwellian distribution, plasma density np and Tvib (from 7000 K to 5600 K) slightly decrease. However, remarkable decrease in np and Tvib is found with the dilution of N2 gas at a high gas pressure of 50 mTorr, where the EEDF is depleted Maxwellian distribution at a fixed ICP power of 150 W. When the ICP power increases from 150 W to 300 W at the gas pressure of 50 mTorr, the depleted tail on the EEDF is replenished, while np is little changed with the dilution of N2 gas. In this case, Tvib slightly decreases from 9500 K to 7600 K. These results indicate that the variation of Tvib is strongly correlated to the plasma parameters, such as the plasma density and EEDF.