Capacitively Coupled Plasma With Widely Spaced Confinement Grid

A 3-D plasma model is used to understand the behavior of a capacitively coupled plasma in the vicinity of widely spaced (relative to sheath thickness) metal lines. It is found that electron power deposition is enhanced adjacent to the metal grid, increasing the local plasma density. In addition, the electrically discontinuous nature of the metal grid is observed to azimuthally perturb the plasma up to several centimeters from the metal grid lines.