On the self-excitation mechanisms of plasma series resonance oscillations in single- and multi-frequency capacitive discharges
- Department of Physics, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia 26506-6315 (United States)
- Institute for Solid State Physics and Optics, Wigner Research Centre for Physics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 1121 Budapest, Konkoly-Thege Miklós Str. 29-33 (Hungary)
The self-excitation of plasma series resonance (PSR) oscillations is a prominent feature in the current of low pressure capacitive radio frequency discharges. This resonance leads to high frequency oscillations of the charge in the sheaths and enhances electron heating. Up to now, the phenomenon has only been observed in asymmetric discharges. There, the nonlinearity in the voltage balance, which is necessary for the self-excitation of resonance oscillations with frequencies above the applied frequencies, is caused predominantly by the quadratic contribution to the charge-voltage relation of the plasma sheaths. Using Particle In Cell/Monte Carlo collision simulations of single- and multi-frequency capacitive discharges and an equivalent circuit model, we demonstrate that other mechanisms, such as a cubic contribution to the charge-voltage relation of the plasma sheaths and the time dependent bulk electron plasma frequency, can cause the self-excitation of PSR oscillations, as well. These mechanisms have been neglected in previous models, but are important for the theoretical description of the current in symmetric or weakly asymmetric discharges.
- OSTI ID:
- 22408373
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 22, Issue 4; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Kinetic interpretation of resonance phenomena in low pressure capacitively coupled radio frequency plasmas
Measurements of time average series resonance effect in capacitively coupled radio frequency discharge plasma