Effect of Gas Flow Rate and Gas Composition in Ar/CH4 Inductively Coupled PlasmasL. Tong
Keisoku Engineering System Co. Ltd.
The discharge properties in low pressure inductively coupled Ar/CH4 plasmas operating at an RF frequency of 13.56 MHz and total gas pressure of 20 mTorr are studied in this work. The calculation of gas flow is performed in coupling with the plasma simulation. The gas flow rate is varied from 20 to 1000 sccm.
The species taken into account include electrons, six kinds of molecules, eleven kinds of ions, five kinds of neutral radicals, and three kinds of excited species. 56 chemical reactions are considered. The density profiles of all the plasma species for the different gas flow rates and Ar fractions are obtained and the electron temperature and the total collisional power loss are presented.