Experimental and numerical investigation of a planar type radio frequency inductively coupled oxygen plasma

Abstract

Summary form only given, as follows. Experimental and numerical investigations are performed on a radio frequency inductively coupled oxygen plasma. The plasma parameters such as charged species densities, electron temperature, plasma potential, and electron energy distribution function are measured as a function of the gas pressure and the input power by using Langmuir probe diagnostics. Numerical study employs spatially averaged global model and two-dimensional fluid simulation. According to the prevailing particle loss mechanism, the parameter space can be divided into a volume recombination-loss-dominated region and an ion-flux-loss-dominated region. The electronegativity and the shape of density profiles at various operating regions are explored. The scaling laws for the densities of charged species such as positive ion, negative ion, and electron are estimated in terms of plasma parameters for ion-flux-loss-dominated region based on the global balance equations, and then compared with Langmuir probe measurement results. The transition point from ion-flux-loss-dominated region to recombination-loss-dominated region moves to a lower pressure region as the absorbed power increases. In addition, the experimentally obtained radial profiles of plasma parameters are compared with the results of two-dimensional fluid simulation.