Hollow cathode effect in radio frequency hollow electrode discharge in argon

Abstract

Radio frequency capacitively coupled plasma source (RF-CCP) with a hollow electrode can increase the electron density through the hollow cathode effect (HCE), which offers a method to modify the spatial profiles of the plasma density. In this work, the variations of the HCE in one RF period are investigated by using a two-dimensional particle-in-cell/Monte-Carlo collision (PIC/MCC) model. The results show that the sheath electric field, the sheath potential drop, the sheath thickness, the radial plasma bulk width, the electron energy distribution function (EEDF), and the average electron energy in the cavity vary in one RF period. During the hollow electrode sheath’s expansion phase, the secondary electron heating and sheath oscillation heating in the cavity are gradually enhanced, and the frequency of the electron pendular motion in the cavity gradually increases, hence the HCE is gradually enhanced. However, during the hollow electrode sheath’s collapse phase, the secondary electron heating is gradually attenuated. In addition, when interacting with the gradually collapsed hollow electrode sheaths, high-energy plasma bulk electrons in the cavity will lose some energy. Furthermore, the frequency of the electron pendular motion in the cavity gradually decreases. Therefore, during the hollow electrode sheath’s collapse phase, the HCE is gradually attenuated.