The effect of discharge chamber geometry on the ignition of low-pressure rf capacitive discharges
- Laboratoire de Physique et Technologie des Plasmas, Ecole Polytechnique, Palaiseau 91128, France and Kharkov National University, Kharkov 61077 (Ukraine)
This paper reports measured and calculated breakdown curves in several gases of rf capacitive discharges excited at 13.56 MHz in chambers of three different geometries: parallel plates surrounded by a dielectric cylinder ('symmetric parallel plate'), parallel plates surrounded by a grounded metallic cylinder ('asymmetric parallel plate'), and parallel plates inside a much larger grounded metallic chamber ('large chamber'). The breakdown curves for the symmetric chamber have a multivalued section at low pressure. For the asymmetric chamber the breakdown curves are shifted to lower pressures and rf voltages, but the multivalued feature is still present. At higher pressures the breakdown voltages are much lower than for the symmetric geometry. For the large chamber geometry the multivalued behavior is not observed. The breakdown curves were also calculated using a numerical model based on fluid equations, giving results that are in satisfactory agreement with the measurements.
- OSTI ID:
- 20764566
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 12, Issue 9; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.2033748; (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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