Striations in a radio frequency planar inductively coupled plasma

Author

Stittsworth, J.A. ; Wendt, A.E.

Author_Institution

Eng. Res. Center for Plasma-Aided Manuf., Wisconsin Univ., Madison, WI, USA

Volume

24

Issue

1

fYear

1996

fDate

2/1/1996 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

125

Lastpage

126

Abstract

Photographic evidence is presented for azimuthal structure in cylindrical radio frequency (RF) planar inductively coupled plasmas. Observations made in a high aspect ratio chamber (antenna radius large compared to height of plasma volume) show azimuthal striations (periodic modulations in emitted light intensity) in an argon discharge. These striations, reported here for the first time, have serious implications for discharge uniformity under some conditions (discharge shown at 300 W RF power, 85 mtorr). A comparison to positive column striations in dc glow discharges shows some similarities, although a complete explanation will require consideration of RF effects

Keywords

glow discharges; high-frequency discharges; plasma diagnostics; positive column; 300 W; 85 mtorr; antenna radius; azimuthal structure; dc glow discharges; discharge uniformity; emitted light intensity periodic modulations; high aspect ratio chamber; photographic evidence; plasma volume; positive column striations; radio frequency planar inductively coupled plasma; striations; Aluminum; Argon; Computer aided manufacturing; Fault location; Flanges; Plasma confinement; Plasma materials processing; Plasma measurements; Plasma sources; Radio frequency;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Plasma Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0093-3813

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/27.491744

Filename

491744