Simple Model for Calculating the Rate Constants of Plasma-Chemical Reactions in Low-Pressure DC Magnetron Discharges

Abstract

A simple model which allows one to calculate the rate coefficients of plasma-chemical reactions in low-pressure DC magnetron discharges is presented. In this model, the electron cyclotron frequency is assumed to be much greater than any electron collision frequency. We also assume that plasma-chemical reactions take place in the near-cathode bright region where the magnetic field, the electric field, the electron density, and the electron energy are maximum. The collision probabilities have been calculated for an electron moving in crossed E × B fields by averaging the cross-sections of plasma-chemical reactions along its trajectory and over all its possible initial pitch angles. Based on this model we calculated the rate constants of the plasma-chemical reactions taking place in DC magnetron reactive sputtering in argon–oxygen gas mixtures.