Hydrogen and hydrogen-argon discharge measurements and models of a compact microwave ECR plasma source

Summary form only given. Hydrogen discharges and hydrogen-argon discharges are created and studied in a compact microwave ECR plasma source operating in the 0.4-5 mTorr pressure range. The source [1] has a discharge region of 3.6 cm in diameter and an excitation volume of 50 cm/sup 3/. The plasma species diffuse out of the source into a larger materials processing region. The discharge is excited at a frequency of 2.45 GHz with input power levels of 50-90 watts. Measurements of the ion density, electron temperature, and absolute atomic hydrogen concentration are performed using Langmuir probes, OES and actinometry. Measurements are performed in both the source/excitation region and in the downstream processing region. A global model for the discharges in this plasma source and a downstream charge particle diffusion model are also developed. The features of these plasma discharges determined by the combined measurements and models include a source region ion density in the 10/sup 11/ cm/sup -3/ range, which corresponds to an ionization ratio of 0.001 to 0.01.