Enhanced sheath heating in capacitively coupled discharges due to non-sinusoidal voltage waveforms

Journal Article · Mon May 07 00:00:00 EDT 2012 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4712128· OSTI ID:22025549

Lafleur, T ^[1]; Boswell, R W ^[2]; Booth, J P ^[3]

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1. Johannesburg (South Africa)
2. Space Plasma, Power and Propulsion Group, Research School of Physics and Engineering, Australian National University, Canberra ACT 0200 (Australia)
3. LPP-CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique, 91128 Palaiseau (France)

Through the use of particle-in-cell simulations, we demonstrate that the power deposition in capacitively coupled discharges (in argon) can be increased by replacing sinusoidal waveforms with Gaussian-shaped voltage pulses (with a repetition frequency of 13.56 MHz). By changing the Gaussian pulse width, electron heating can be directly controlled, allowing for an increased plasma density and ion flux for the same gas pressure and geometrical operating conditions. Analysis of the power deposition profiles and electron distribution functions shows that enhanced electron-sheath heating is responsible for the increased power absorption.

• OSTI ID: 22025549
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 100, Issue 19; Other Information: (c) 2012 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
ARGON
DISTRIBUTION FUNCTIONS
ELECTRIC DISCHARGES
ELECTRIC POTENTIAL
ELECTRONS
ENERGY ABSORPTION
IONS
MHZ RANGE
PLASMA DENSITY
PLASMA HEATING
PLASMA PRESSURE
PLASMA SHEATH
PLASMA SIMULATION
PULSES
WAVE FORMS