Discharge mode transition and hysteresis in inductively coupled plasma

Abstract

Experimental verification of the discharge mode transition and the hysteresis by considering matching circuit is investigated in inductively coupled plasma using measurements of the plasma density and the power absorption to the plasma. At an argon gas pressure of 100 mTorr where the hysteresis loop of the plasma density had been observed in some previous experiments, there is no hysteresis loop against either the input power or the absorbed power delivered via an automatic impedance matching network. At a higher gas pressure of 350 mTorr, however, the hysteresis loop is clearly seen as functions of both the absorbed power and the input power. This result suggests that the observed hysteresis is due to not only the matching effect but also the nonlinearity of the plasma during capacitive (E) to inductive (H) and H to E heating mode transitions.