Distributed ferromagnetic inductively coupled plasma as an alternative plasma processing tool

Abstract

A new type of plasma source for the uniform processing of large surfaces, that is distributed ferromagnetic inductively coupled plasma (DFICP) is explored in this study as an alternative to existing schemes. The basic principles of operation, the main features of DFICPs and their distinctions from the existing rf plasma sources are considered here. The electrical and plasma characteristics of different DFICPs operated at 400kHz measured in wide ranges of rf power and gas pressure are investigated here and compared with those measured in a conventional ICP operated at 13.56MHz.