The Effect of Excited Species on the Collisional Energy of Argon Inductively Coupled Plasmas: A Global Model Study

Júlia Karnopp,Julio Sagás,Bernardo Magaldi,Rodrigo Pessoa

doi:10.3390/plasma5010003

Abstract

Global modeling of inductively coupled plasma (ICP) reactors is a powerful tool to investigate plasma parameters. In this article, the argon ICP global model is revisited to explore the effect of excited species on collisional energy through the study of different approaches to particle and energy balance equations. The collisional energy loss is much more sensitive to modifications in the balance equations than the electron temperature. According to the simulations, the multistep ionization reduces the collisional energy loss in all investigated reaction sets and the inclusion of heavy species reactions has negligible influence. The plasma parameters obtained, such as total energy loss and electron temperature, were compared with experimental results from the literature. The simulated cases that have more excited species and reactions in the energy balance are in better agreement with the experimental measurements.

Highlights

Coupled Plasmas: A Global ModelInductively coupled plasma (ICP) is a low-temperature and high-density plasma used in various fields, such as nanostructure fabrication [1,2,3], space propulsion systems [4,5,6], and energy/environment [1,7,8,9]
When the absorbed power is changed from 150 W to 300 W, the collisional energy dependence on electron temperature is similar for all cases, but the magnitude is different for each one
Even with collisional energy changing for each case, the electron temperatures calculated are close

Summary

Introduction

Coupled Plasmas: A Global ModelInductively coupled plasma (ICP) is a low-temperature and high-density plasma used in various fields, such as nanostructure fabrication [1,2,3], space propulsion systems [4,5,6], and energy/environment [1,7,8,9]. Several inert and reactive gases are used in these applications, with argon being the main component in the processing and modeling of plasmas [1]. The plasma-assisted applications are determined by several process parameters, including applied power, gas pressure, flow rate, among others. The plasma environment can be characterized by plasma parameters such as electron temperature and density, heavy species density, gas temperature, energy lost per electron-ion pair created, and other physical/chemical parameters. To study these parameters and the relationship between them, many experimental and/or modeling studies have been carried out. Modeling is a fundamental research tool to complement experimental diagnostics, especially when the target quantities are difficult to obtain or experimentally inaccessible [10]

Methods

Results

Conclusion