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Ion energy distribution function in very high frequency capacitive discharges excited by saw-tooth waveform

Sharma, Sarveshwar orcid logoORCID: 0000-0002-0642-0247, Sirse, Nishant orcid logoORCID: 0000-0002-7063-4100, Kuley, Animesh orcid logoORCID: 0000-0003-2325-6597 and Turner, Miles M. orcid logoORCID: 0000-0001-9713-6198 (2021) Ion energy distribution function in very high frequency capacitive discharges excited by saw-tooth waveform. Physics of Plasmas, 28 (10). ISSN 1070-664X

Abstract
Tailoring the ion energy distribution function (IEDF) is vital for advanced plasma processing applications. Capacitively coupled plasma (CCP) discharges excited using a non-sinusoidal waveform have shown its capability to control IEDF through the generation of plasma asymmetry and DC self-bias. In this paper, we performed a particle-in-cell simulation study to investigate the IEDF in a symmetric capacitive discharge excited by a saw-tooth-like current waveform at a very high frequency. At a constant driving frequency of 27.12 MHz, the simulation results predict that the ion energy asymmetry in the discharge scales with the discharge current amplitude. A transition from a single narrow ion energy peak to a bi-modal type IEDF is observed with an increase in the current density amplitude. Further studies at a constant current density and varying the fundamental excitation frequency show that the ion energy asymmetry enhances with a reduction in the driving frequency. Increase in the plasma asymmetry and significant DC self-bias at a lower driving frequency is observed to be one of the principal factors responsible for the observed asymmetry in the ion energy peaks. An investigation of DC self-bias and plasma potential confirms that the powered electrode energy peak corresponds to the DC self-bias with respect to the plasma potential, and the grounded electrode peak corresponds to the plasma potential. These results suggest that although lower driving frequency is beneficial for generating the discharge asymmetry and large DC self-bias, a narrow low energy IEDF is plausible in very high frequency driven CCP systems.
Metadata
Item Type:Article (Published)
Refereed:Yes
Additional Information:Article number: 103502
Subjects:Physical Sciences > Plasmas
DCU Faculties and Centres:DCU Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science and Health > School of Physical Sciences
Research Institutes and Centres > National Centre for Plasma Science and Technology (NCPST)
Publisher:American Institute of Physics
Official URL:https://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0061605
Copyright Information:© 2021 American Institute of Physics
Use License:This item is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License. View License
Funders:Board of Research in Nuclear Sciences (BRNS Sanctioned No. 39/14/05/2018-BRNS), Science and Engineering Research Board EMEQ program (SERB Sanctioned No. EEQ/2017/000164), National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) (Ref. No.: DST/NSM/R&D_HPC_Applications/2021/04), Infosys Foundation Young Investigator grant., Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) under grant no. 07/IN.1/1907 and 08/SRC/I1411
ID Code:27103
Deposited On:10 May 2022 15:06 by Miles Turner . Last Modified 10 May 2022 15:06
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