Experimental study on a magnetically enhanced inductively coupled plasmas source (MEICP)

Summary form only given, as follows. Rf discharges are produced in a conventional inductively coupled plasma (ICP) device (aspect ratio 1/R/spl sim/7 and 4 turn antenna) in the presence of an external DC magnetic field (up to 120 gauss). A common feature of MEICP is that the RF power is coupled to the plasma across a dielectric window (similar to an ICP) at 13.56 MHz and DC magnetic fields results in enhanced heating and excitation of the plasma electrons by electron cyclotron resonance. Unlike a conventional ECR, MEICP is generated inductively at the low frequency, 13.56 MHz, and resonated at low magnetic fields. At this low magnetic field, the electrons are magnetized but the ions are very weakly magnetized. The helicon wave length is longer than the chamber length for this experimental conditions. Preliminary results (taken from Ar plasmas with 0.5-1 mTorr and 50-200 Watts) show ion plasma densities increase factor of 10 higher at B/spl sim/20 gauss (i.e., /spl omega//sub ce//spl sim/4 /spl omega//sub rf/) compared to those without magnetic or with larger magnetic field. Floating potentials are varied with magnetic field strength and along the axis.