Abnormal behavior of the plasma potential in an inductively coupled plasma with a DC-biased grid

Abstract

The formation of the plasma potential and the generation mechanism of very low electron temperature plasma are investigated in an inductively coupled plasma with a DC biased grid. The electron temperature is controlled from 2.4 eV to 0.2 eV according to the grid voltage (10 V to −40 V). Interestingly, when the grid voltage is negatively biased, the electron temperature decreases and the plasma potential decreases with the grid voltage, but then increases below −10 V which is abnormal. This behavior of the plasma potential is abnormal since the plasma potential is generally proportional to the electron temperature. The main reason for the abnormal increase of the plasma potential is the difference in the flux of electrons and ions below the grid. As the grid is negatively biased, the electron flux is greatly reduced compared to the ion flux, leading to an increase in plasma potential. After −20 V, the plasma potential saturates, because although the number of electrons entering the grid decreases, the electron flux is maintained by secondary electrons generated in the grid mesh. This abnormal increase in plasma potential decreases with pressure. An increase in plasma potential with gas species is also observed. The same behavior is observed for Ar, He, and N2 gases. The abnormal behavior of the plasma potential is explained with the current continuity.