Probe measurements of plasma potential nonuniformity due to edge asymmetry in large-area radio-frequency reactors: The telegraph effect
- Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), Centre de Recherches en Physique des Plasmas, CH-1015 Lausanne (Switzerland)
In large-area radio-frequency (rf) capacitive reactors, the redistribution of rf current to maintain current continuity near asymmetric sidewalls causes a perturbation in rf plasma potential to propagate along the resistive plasma between capacitive sheaths. The damping length of the perturbation can be determined by a telegraph equation. Experiments are described using a surface array of unbiased electrostatic probes in the ground electrode to verify the theoretical model of the telegraph effect in Howling et al. [J. Appl. Phys. 96, 5429 (2004)]. The measured spatial dependence of the plasma potential rf amplitude and circulating nonambipolar current agree well with two-dimensional numerical solutions of the telegraph equation. The rf plasma potential can be made uniform by using symmetric reactor sidewalls.
- OSTI ID:
- 20711746
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 97, Issue 12; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.1940136; (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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