Electron heating during E-H transition in inductively coupled RF plasmas

Abstract

A planar inductively coupled RF discharge (13.56 MHz) in argon and oxygen was exemplarily studied using space and phase resolved optical emission spectroscopy. The characteristic excitation rate pattern due to the electron heating during the sheath expansion was found for both gases in the E-mode. Furthermore, an intensive pattern in oxygen appears during the sheath collapse. This is associated with the electron heating caused by electric field reversal due to the strong electronegativity. The transition from the E- to the H-mode may be stepwise or continuous, depending on the gas type and total gas pressure. In the H-mode, significant differences in the excitation rate patterns exist. A broad and weakly modulated pattern is found over the RF cycle in argon, whereas in oxygen two separated patterns appear representing the electron heating for each half cycle. The reason may be the different excitation processes of the investigated resonant states and the influence of metastable argon atoms as well as attachment/detachment processes and dissociative recombination in oxygen. The E-H transition in oxygen at 5 Pa develops continuously and was studied in detail through the excitation rate. During the transition, the E- and H-mode are present and a hybrid mode was observed.