Instabilities in Capacitively Coupled Plasmas Driven by Asymmetric Trapezoidal Voltage Pulses

Instabilities in Ar capacitively coupled plasmas driven by asymmetric trapezoidal voltage pulses were observed using particle-in-cell simulations. Despite its geometric symmetry, the discharge was electrically asymmetric. The instabilities were electron plasma waves launched from the sheath edge at the time the voltage pulse was applied and were accompanied by local electric field reversal.