On the importance of excited state species in low pressure capacitively coupled plasma argon discharges

Wen, De-Qi; Krek, Janez; Gudmundsson, Jon Tomas; Kawamura, Emi; Lieberman, Michael A.; Zhang, Peng; Verboncoeur, John P.

doi:10.1088/1361-6595/acd6b4

On the importance of excited state species in low pressure capacitively coupled plasma argon discharges

Journal Article · Mon Jun 12 00:00:00 EDT 2023 · Plasma Sources Science and Technology

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6595/acd6b4· OSTI ID:2422022

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Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States); OSTI
Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States)
University of Iceland, Reykjavik (Iceland); KTH Royal Inst. of Technology, Stockholm (Sweden)
University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

In the past three decades, first principles-based fully kinetic particle-in-cell Monte Carlo collision (PIC/MCC) simulations have been proven to be an important tool for the understanding of the physics of low pressure capacitive discharges. However, there is a long-standing issue that the plasma density determined by PIC/MCC simulations shows quantitative deviations from experimental measurements, even in argon discharges, indicating that certain physics may be missing in previous modeling of the low pressure radio frequency (rf) driven capacitive discharges. In this work, we report that the energetic electron-induced secondary electron emission (SEE) and excited state atoms play an important role in low pressure rf capacitive argon plasma discharges. The ion-induced secondary electrons are accelerated by the high sheath field to strike the opposite electrode and produce a considerable number of secondary electrons that lead to additional ionizing impacts and further increase of the plasma density. Importantly, the presence of excited state species even further enhances the plasma density via excited state neutral and resonant state photon-induced SEE on the electrode surface. The PIC/MCC simulation results show good agreement with the recent experimental measurements in the low pressure range (1–10 Pa) that is commonly used for etching in the semiconductor industry. At the highest pressure (20 Pa) and driving voltage amplitudes 250 and 350 V explored here, the plasma densities from PIC/MCC simulations considering excited state neutrals and resonant photon-induced SEE are quantitatively higher than observed in the experiments, requiring further investigation on high pressure discharges.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC); US Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR); Icelandic Research Fund

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0022078

OSTI ID:: 2422022

Journal Information:: Plasma Sources Science and Technology, Journal Name: Plasma Sources Science and Technology Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 32; ISSN 0963-0252

Publisher:: IOP PublishingCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
Physics
electron dynamics
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excited state atoms
low pressure capacitively coupled plasmas
plasma-surface interaction
resonance photons
simulation validation against experiments

On the importance of excited state species in low pressure capacitively coupled plasma argon discharges

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