Effect of low frequency power on the electron energy distribution function in argon inductively coupled plasmas

Abstract

In plasma processing and application, the electron energy distribution function (EEDF) is of fundamental interest because the ion and radical densities related to physical and chemical reactions on the substrate are predominantly governed by the EEDF or electron temperature. In this paper, the effect of low frequency power on the EEDF is investigated when 2 MHz power is added to the plasma originally driven at 13.56 MHz. In a 13.56 MHz operation, the EEDF shows a Maxwellian-like distribution, and as the RF power increases, the electron density increases and the electron temperature decreases. However, when a small amount of 2 MHz power is applied to the 13.56 MHz discharge, the electron density slightly increases and the electron temperature significantly increases. In dual-frequency operation, EEDFs have a low slope of low-energy region and evolve into a Druyvesteyn-like distribution. It turns out that the dual-frequency operation can significantly change the electron temperature. This is consistent with the results calculated using the analytical electron heating model, and the relevant heating mechanism is also presented.