Global model analysis of Ar inductively coupled plasma driven by a 150 kHz-band high-power pulse burst

Abstract

The behavior of argon inductively coupled plasma (ICP) driven by a 150 kHz-band high-voltage pulse burst is investigated using the mutual induction circuit model and a spatially averaged global model. A high-voltage of 4 kV was applied to the 50-turns solenoid coil to generate a magnetic field in the 52 mm inner diameter glass tube. The coil current of 47 A flowed into the solenoid coil with 83 Ω of equivalent load impedance before the plasma ignition. The coil voltage and current decreased to 2.0 kV and 30 A with plasma ignition. The measured waveforms of the coil voltage and current were used to obtain the electrical characteristics based on the equivalent circuit with the mutual induction circuit model. The magnetic coupling factor was obtained to be in range from 0.6 to 0.7 at various gas pressers and input power. The characterization of the ICP was analyzed using the global model with 200 μs width burst pulse. The electron temperature and plasma density were obtained as 2–3 eV and 1019 m−3, respectively, at an input power of several kilo-watts. These values were almost consistent with those measured using a double probe. The densities of the exited argon atom were estimated to be 1017 m−3.