Control of electron energy distribution by adding a pulse inductive field in capacitive discharge

Abstract

Drastic changes in the electron energy distribution (EED) and the plasma parameter caused by a pulse-modulated (PM) inductive field were observed in a low-gas pressure capacitively coupled plasma (CCP). By applying a small amount of the PM inductive power (20 W) in the CCP, the effective electron temperature (T-eff) was increased without a variation of the plasma density (n(e)) due to the low energy electron heating by the inductive field. When a large amount of the PM inductive power of 50 W was applied to the CCP, both the T-eff and the n(e) were increased because of the electron heating through the coupling effect of the inductive and capacitive fields. These results show that T-eff and n(e) can be controlled independently or simultaneously in the plasmas by adding the pulse inductive field.