On Rapid Computation of Time Periodic Steady State in Simulation of Capacitively Coupled RF Plasma

Abstract

This paper proposes a methodology reducing the number of RF cycles necessary to reach time periodic steady-state solutions for efficient simulations of a three-moment plasma model. Our methodology employs a feedback control approach in conjunction with an implicit time integration scheme. Feedback gains are rigorously estimated by taking into account plasma responses during simulation. Through the one-dimensional simulation of a parallel plate capacitively coupled RF argon plasma, the proposed feedback control approach demonstrates its capability to dramatically reduce the number of RF cycles required to reach the time periodic steady state, resulting in several factors of speedup in simulation time. The simulation result showed that electrons emitted in a temporary cathodic sheath could acquire supersonic velocities and shocks could form near the corresponding sheath boundary as they enter a bulk plasma region.