Plasma and electrical characteristics depending on an antenna position in an inductively coupled plasma with a passive resonant antenna

Abstract

We investigated the plasma and electrical characteristics depending on the antenna position in an inductively coupled plasma with a passive resonant antenna. When the powered antenna and passive resonant antenna are installed near the top plate and in the middle of the cylindrical reactor (setup A), respectively, the ion density at the resonance is about 2.4 times to 9 times higher than that at non-resonance. This is explained by the reduction in power loss in the powered antenna (including the matching circuits) and the increase in power absorbed by the plasma discharge. However, when the powered antenna and passive resonant antenna are interchanged (setup B), the ion density at the resonance is not significantly different from that at the non-resonance. When RF power is changed from 50 to 200 W, the ion density at the resonance of setup B is 1.6 times to 5.4 times higher than at the non-resonance of setup A. To analyse this difference, the profile of the z-axis ion density is measured and the electric and magnetic field simulations are investigated. The results are discussed along with the electron kinetics effect and the coupling loss between the antenna and the metal plate.