Comparison of electrostatic and electromagnetic simulations for very high frequency plasmas
- School of Physics and Optoelectronic Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024 (China)
- Department of Chemistry, University of Antwerp, Campus Drie Eiken, Universiteitsplein 1, BE-2610 Wilrijk-Antwerp (Belgium)
A two-dimensional self-consistent fluid model combined with the full set of Maxwell equations is developed to investigate an argon capacitively coupled plasma, focusing on the electromagnetic effects on the discharge characteristics at various discharge conditions. The results indicate that there exist distinct differences in plasma characteristics calculated with the so-called electrostatic model (i.e., without taking into account the electromagnetic effects) and the electromagnetic model (which includes the electromagnetic effects), especially at very high frequencies. Indeed, when the excitation source is in the high frequency regime and the electromagnetic effects are taken into account, the plasma density increases significantly and meanwhile the ionization rate evolves to a very different distribution when the electromagnetic effects are dominant. Furthermore, the dependence of the plasma characteristics on the voltage and pressure is also investigated, at constant frequency. It is observed that when the voltage is low, the difference between these two models becomes more obvious than at higher voltages. As the pressure increases, the plasma density profiles obtained from the electromagnetic model smoothly shift from edge-peaked over uniform to a broad maximum in the center. In addition, the edge effect becomes less pronounced with increasing frequency and pressure, and the skin effect rather than the standing-wave effect becomes dominant when the voltage is high.
- OSTI ID:
- 21532034
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 17, Issue 11; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3519515; (c) 2010 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 1070-664X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Effects of interelectrode gap on high frequency and very high frequency capacitively coupled plasmas
Phase-shift effect in capacitively coupled plasmas with two radio frequency or very high frequency sources
Related Subjects
ARGON
ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS
EXCITATION
HIGH-FREQUENCY DISCHARGES
IONIZATION
MAXWELL EQUATIONS
PLASMA
PLASMA DENSITY
PLASMA SIMULATION
SKIN EFFECT
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
ELECTRIC DISCHARGES
ELEMENTS
ENERGY-LEVEL TRANSITIONS
EQUATIONS
FLUIDS
GASES
NONMETALS
PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
RARE GASES
SIMULATION