Magnetic field induced electron temperature inhomogeneity effects on discharge properties in cylindrical capacitively coupled plasmas

Abstract

This paper presents the discharge properties of a novel cylindrical Capacitively Coupled Plasma (CCP) discharge with an axisymmetric magnetic field. It is observed that with an increase in magnetic field strength, the electron temperature in the discharge increases steadily towards the peripheral region; however, the plasma density and potential tend to remain maximum at the center. The higher electron temperature in the peripheral region leads to a faster decay in plasma density towards the radial boundary, consistent with the analytical model. The radial ion flux distribution is uniform within a 5% range. With the application of a magnetic field, the EEPF depicts enhancement in the mid-energy range electron population in the peripheral region; however, the plasma bulk remains bi-Maxwellian with a higher population of low-energy electrons. A qualitative discussion is presented to highlight the potential applications of this device for a large-area plasma processing application.