Modeling the pressure dependence of DC bias voltage in asymmetric,capacitive RF sheaths

A semianalytical model for capacitively coupled radio frequency (RF) sheaths of asymmetric (unequal electrode area) systems has been developed. It can be applied in the high-frequency (ω > ω _pi) regime at different pressures. An analytical approximation to the pressure-dependent ion density profile is used. The time-varying electric field and potential within the sheath are obtained by solving Poisson's equation. The current balance and zero net DC current conditions are applied to solve for the RF sheath parameters and DC bias voltage. The DC voltage ratio between the powered and grounded electrode sheaths increases as the pressure decreases, which results in a larger DC bias voltage at lower pressures     

A comparison of RF electrode sheath models

Analytic expressions have been found from different time-averaged and dynamic models for the electrode sheath width in a capacitively driven RF discharge. The sheath widths predicted from all the models under consideration are shown to practically coincide if they are expressed in terms of DC sheath voltage and ion current to the RF electrode. However, these models have fundamental differences in their RF discharge scaling laws that result in different theoretical predictions for RF discharge electrical characteristics. Analytic expressions for the sheath width with arbitrary collisionality at moderate RF voltages are found to be in good agreement with experimental measurements made over a wide range of discharge voltage and gas pressure     

Characteristics of a high-power RF oscillator based on a pulsedhollow-cathode discharge

The characteristics of a very simple high-power pulsed RF oscillator are presented. This oscillator is based on the use of a low-pressure pulsed hollow-cathode discharge during the periods when its cathode sheath becomes unstable. A set of four different oscillators has been studied in different operating regimes for various values of load resistance. These oscillators were tested and found to produce pulsed power of over 100 kW with efficiency exceeding 20% at frequencies up to 50 MHz. The tests were performed with pulse duration of 14 μs and repetition rate up to 100 Hz. Equivalent circuits of the oscillator for RF loading and for DC current are described. The requirements for a power supply to drive the device as well as recommendations for the oscillator usage are presented     

Cathode-sheath driven low-speed aerodynamic flow actuation using direct-current surface glow discharges

Flow actuation by a continuous/pulsed, direct-current (DC) surface glow discharge is explored. The discharge comprises an array of pin electrode pairs flush mounted on a dielectric actuator surface that lies adjacent to stagnant air. Strong electrostatic fields produced in the cathode sheath region of the discharge provides a motive force on the ions which in turn drag the background gas resulting in directed air flow from the anode to the cathode. The induced flow velocity is estimated by particle image velocimetry (PIV) at 10 Hz with TiO₂ seeding. For a pulsed DC discharge with peak power of 5 W per electrode pair, the induced flow velocity reaches peak values of about 1.7 m/s which is comparable to dielectric-barrier discharge (DBD) or corona discharge actuators. The actuation effect quantified by the magnitude of induced velocity increases as the pulse frequency increases from 0 to 1 kHz. The actuation effect decreases for further increase in frequency above 1 kHz. Decreased actuation effect at high frequency is accompanied by structural change in the discharge. At fixed frequency of 1 kHz, flow actuation effect is highest for a square wave pulse with a duty cycle of 50% indicating that pulsed DC discharges produces better actuation than continuous DC with a corresponding reduction in energy consumption.     

脉冲放电射流辅助射频辉光放电研究

通过实验研究了脉冲放电射流辅助下大气压氦气射频辉光放电的电学和光学特性。采用组合电极结构,在射频放电前段增加脉冲电极,脉冲放电产生的射流以等离子体子弹形式注入射频放电区域,主要研究脉冲射流辅助射频放电的电流电压曲线、最低放电维持电压、放电强度和空间结构时空分布。研究结果表明:等离子体子弹经过射频放电区域后,由于等离子体子弹引入的活性粒子,会使射频放电区域等离子体强度增强;而射频放电最低维持电压也从0.93 kV降低至0.43 kV。     

Investigations on ionic processes and dynamics in the sheath region of helium and hydrogen discharges by laser spectroscopic electric field measurements

Temporally and spatially resolved measurements of the electric field distribution in the sheath region of RF and dc discharges provide a detailed insight into the sheath and ion dynamics. The electric field is directly related to the sheath ion and electron densities, the sheath voltage, and the displacement current density. Under certain assumptions also the electron and ion conduction current densities at the electrode, the ion current density into the sheath from the plasma bulk, the ion energy distribution function, and the power dissipated in the discharge can be inferred. Furthermore, the electric field distribution can give an indication of the collision-induced conversion between different ion species in the sheath. Laser spectroscopic techniques allow the noninvasive in situ measurement of the electric field with high spatial and temporal resolution. These techniques are based on the spectroscopic measurement of the Stark splitting of Rydberg states of helium and hydrogen atoms. Two alternative techniques are applied to RF discharges at 13.56 MHz in helium and hydrogen and a pulsed dc discharge in hydrogen. The measured electric field profiles are analyzed, and the results discussed with respect to the ion densities, currents, energies, temporal dynamics and species composition. Received: 26 July 2000 / Accepted: 12 December 2000 / Published online: 3 April 2001     

Model of magnetically enhanced, capacitive RF discharges

Magnetically enhanced, capacitive RF discharges (called RF magnetrons or MERIE discharges) are playing an increasing role in thin film etching for integrated circuit processing. In these discharges, a weak DC magnetic field is imposed, lying parallel to the powered electrode surface. The authors determine the RF power transferred to the discharge electrons by the oscillating electron sheath in the presence of the magnetic field. Using this, along with particle and energy conservation, they obtain discharge parameters such as the ion flux and ion bombarding energy at the powered electrode as functions of pressure, RF power, and the magnetic field. Some results of the model show good agreement with experiments done on a commercial MERIE system     

100 kV重复频率高压脉冲电源

为研究气体间隙的放电特性,设计了输出幅度在30～100 kV、重复频率1～5 kHz可调的高压脉冲电源。利用谐振充电的原理,将10 kV的初级电源的能量转移到中储电容,中储电容的电压升高到至少18 kV。在光触发信号的作用下,氢闸流管导通,中储电容上的能量通过脉冲变压器放电,在脉冲变压器的副边得到最大幅度为100 kV的负脉冲,其脉宽大于200 ns,前沿时间小于90 ns。整个装置在不加散热系统的情况下,可连续工作1 min以上。     

Discharge and flow characterizations of the double-side sliding discharge plasma actuator

We investigate the discharge and flow characterizations of a double-side siding discharge plasma actuator driven by different polarities of direct current(DC) voltage. The discharge tests show that sliding discharge and extended discharge are filamentary discharge. The irregular current pulse of sliding discharge fluctuates obviously in the first half cycle,ultimately expands the discharge channel. The instantaneous power and average power consumptions of sliding discharge are larger than those of the extended discharge and dielectric barrier discharge(DBD). The flow characteristics measured by a high-frequency particle-image-velocimetry system together with high-speed schlieren technology show that the opposite jet at the bias DC electrode is induced by sliding discharge, which causes a bulge structure in the discharge channel.The bias DC electrode can deflect the direction of the induced jet, then modifying the properties of the boundary layer.Extended discharge can accelerate the velocity of the starting vortex, improving the horizontal velocity profile by 203%.The momentum growth caused by extended discharge has the largest peak value and the fastest growth rate, compared with sliding discharge and DBD. However, the momentum growth of sliding discharge lasts longer in the whole pulsed cycle,indicating that sliding discharge can also inject more momentum.     

Electrical characteristics of parallel-plate RF discharges in argon

Electrical characteristics were measured in a parallel-plate, capacitively coupled (E-type), low-pressure, symmetrical RF discharge driven at 13.56 MHz. The discharge voltage, current, and phase shift between them were measured over a very wide range of discharge parameters (gas pressures between 3 mtorr and 3 torr with discharge power between 20 mW and 100 W). From these measurements the discharge impedance components, the power dissipated in the plasma and in the sheaths, the sheath width, and the ion current to the RF electrodes were found over a wide range of discharge conditions. Some of the general relationships between the various measured and determined parameters are discussed. The experimental results can be used as a database for straightforward comparison with existing RF discharge models and numerical simulations     

Matching an RF sheath model to a bulk plasma model

In this paper, we present a combined plasma-sheath model designed for the study of high density discharges, or other systems with thin sheaths. Sheaths in high density plasmas are typically less than 1 mm in thickness. When modeling multidimensional discharges, fully resolving the sheaths can be prohibitively expensive computationally, especially when RF power is coupled capacitively into the discharge. However, the sheath impedance often strongly affects instantaneous and period-averaged plasma potential, which in turn can strongly influence crucial processing characteristics such as the ion energy and angular distributions impacting surfaces. In the combined plasma-sheath model we present, the sheaths are treated independently from the plasma region, and different length scales are employed for each. The Godyak-Sternberg sheath model [Phys. Rev. A, 42, 2299 (1990)] is used to represent the sheaths. The bulk plasma portion of the discharge is represented using a fluid model. Boundary conditions at the plasma-sheath interfaces transfer information dynamically between the sheath and bulk plasma portions of the model. Results from the combined plasma-sheath model are compared to results from a discharge model that fully resolves the sheaths, with generally good to excellent agreement     

2D Simulations of Short‐Pulsed Dielectric Barrier Discharge Xenon Excimer Lamp

Self‐consistent two‐dimensional (2D) simulations of short‐pulsed dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) in pure xenon have been performed. It is shown that during short current pulse the traversal inhomogeneity of the plasma parameters can be important only at the end of the current pulse as an edge effect close to the side walls. During the current pulse, the gap voltage drops until the ionization wave reaches the cathode so the current in the cathode sheath is the displacement current. This means that almost all of the absorbed power is deposited into excitation of xenon atoms and not to the ion heating in the cathode sheath as in the traditional glow discharges. This fact is one of the reasons of high efficiency of short‐pulsed DBD. The developed model allows one to estimate the temporal position of the plasma‐sheath boundary. (© 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

直流偏置对射频容性耦合放电特性的影响

直流偏置能较好抑制射频容性耦合等离子体(radio frequency capacitively coupled plasma, RF-CCP)表面充电效应, 但仍存在其对RF-CCP放电参量影响规律不明确, 电源对参量控制复杂等问题. 构建了直流源与射频源的板-板结构RF-CCP仿真模型, 在射频源基础上施加负直流源, 研究直流偏置对RF-CCP放电特性影响, 并比较射频与直流偏置对放电参量影响差异. 结果表明, 无直流源时, 周期平均电子密度N_{e, ave}, 周期平均电子温度T_{e, ave}均为对称分布, N_{e, ave}呈现两端小、中间大的凸函数分布, T_{e, ave}在距极板4 mm以内鞘层区均有陡然上升, 极大值出现在距极板1 mm左右处; 直流源会使等离子体主体区N_{e, ave}升高并发生偏移, 直流源侧N_{e, ave}降低, 对侧N_{e, ave}增加, 且对侧增加速率较快. 直流偏置可改善单侧电子温度与电子通量, 但提高电子密度能力弱于射频源. 实际工程中, 若欲提高单侧电子温度与电子通量, 应施加直流源, 若提高整体电子密度, 应提高射频源功率.      

The space-time-averaging procedure and modeling of the RF discharge

An approach to modeling RF discharges and the ensuing analysis of fast electron and ion motions for the case of electrode sheaths in the high-pressure RF discharge is discussed. Time-averaging over fast electron motions with the applied voltage frequency gives analytic expressions for the average electric field and average ionization density. The resulting relatively simple equations for the ion density profile describe drift, diffusion, ionization, and recombination processes. The simple scaling rules, the approximate expressions for the density profile in various regions, the sheath length, the ion density at the plasma-sheath boundary, and the dimensionless criteria for various discharge regimes can be deduced. For the non-self-sustained discharge, it is demonstrated that the ion drag towards the electrode and the diffusion results in significant lowering of the ion density in the sheath compared with the positive column at not too high a pressure. The analytic transition criterion from α to γ forms of the self-sustained discharge is obtained. The numerical solution of the averaged ion equations yields the results which nearly coincide with the results of full-scale modeling     

ANALYSIS OF DUAL FREQUENCY CONFINED CAPACITIVELY COUPLED PLASMA AT LOW POWER

Confined dual frequency hydrogen plasma discharge has been investigated with microwave interferometer method and radial profiles are taken by Abel inversion technique. Dual radio-frequency sources, operating at 27.12MHz and 1.94MHz, are coupled to each other through the plasma. 27.12MHz RF power is used to enhance plasma density and 1.94MHz power is used to enhance ion acceleration energy to the electrode. Radial density profiles has been taken for comparing the effects of low frequency source that the secondary RF source causes reduction in plasma density due to the sheath expansion. Instead radial density profile is assumed as flat by most of the models, there is about 2.5eV of potential drop occurs from centre to boundary at 40W of primary source power. It has been observed that increasing sheath width (increasing the secondary source power to primary source power) reduces the bulk plasma volume and makes potential profile flattening in y direction. While the high frequency power is dissipated by electrons in the bulk plasma; low frequency power is mostly dissipated by ions in the sheath region. Using both high and low frequency power, we may control plasma density and ion acceleration energy to the electrode simultaneously.     

Ion kinetics in low-pressure, electropositive, RF glow dischargesheaths

Ion kinetics in low-pressure (e.g., 1 mtorr), electropositive, RF glow discharge sheaths are studied using a Monte-Carlo-based computer simulation. The numerical model integrates particle trajectories using a spatially nonlinear, time-varying model of the electric field in the RF sheath. A scaling relationship is then discussed, relating the normalized ion energy spread to the ratio of ion sheath transit time to the RF period. The scaled numerical data shows good agreement with existing numerical and experimental data     

甚高频激发的容性耦合Ar+O_2等离子体电负特性研究

利用探针辅助的脉冲激光诱导负离子剥离诊断技术对掺入5%O_2的容性耦合Ar等离子体电负特性进行了诊断研究.首先详细解析了脉冲激光剥离后探针的电信号,分析了探针偏压在低于或高于空间电位下的探针收集信号特征;根据探针偏压与探针收集信号之间的依赖关系,用来描述Ar+O_2等离子体电负特性的等离子体电负度被定义为脉冲激光剥离出的电子电流与偏压高于空间电位的探针收集到的背景电子电流的饱和比值,并对等离子体电负度随放电气压、射频功率以及轴向位置的变化进行了诊断测量.实验结果表明等离子体的电负度随着射频功率的增加而减小、随着放电气压的上升而变大;由于非对称电极的分布特性,在轴向方向上靠近功率电极时等离子体电负度有升高的趋势,这种趋势可能与鞘层边界附近二次电子的动力学行为以及负离子的产生与消失过程有关.     

Thermal and induced flow characteristics of radio frequency surface dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuation at atmospheric pressure

Thermal and induced flow velocity characteristics of radio frequency(RF) surface dielectric barrier discharge(SDBD)plasma actuation are experimentally investigated in this paper. The spatial and temporal distributions of the dielectric surface temperature are measured with the infrared thermography at atmospheric pressure. In the spanwise direction, the highest dielectric surface temperature is acquired at the center of the high voltage electrode, while it reduces gradually along the chordwise direction. The maximum temperature of the dielectric surface raises rapidly once discharge begins.After several seconds(typically 100 s), the temperature reaches equilibrium among the actuator's surface, plasma, and surrounding air. The maximum dielectric surface temperature is higher than that powered by an AC power supply in dozens of k Hz. Influences of the duty cycle and the input frequency on the thermal characteristics are analyzed. When the duty cycle increases, the maximum dielectric surface temperature increases linearly. However, the maximum dielectric surface temperature increases nonlinearly when the input frequency varies from 0.47 MHz to 1.61 MHz. The induced flow velocity of the RF SDBD actuator is 0.25 m/s.     

ICP等离子体鞘层附近区域发光光谱特性分析

为了独立控制鞘层附近区域离子密度和离子能最分布,采用光发射谱(OES)测量技术,对不同射频功率、放电气压和基底偏压下感应耦合等离子体鞘层附近区域辉光特性进行了研究.原子谱线和离子谱线特性分析表明,在鞘层附近区域感应耦合等离子体具有较高的离子密度和较低的电子温度.改变放电气压和射频功率,对得到的光谱特性分析表明,鞘层附近区域离子密度随射频功率的增大而线性增大,在低压下随气压的升高而增大.低激发电位原子谱线强度增加迅速,高激发电位原子谱线强度增加缓慢,而离子谱线强度增加很不明显.改变基底直流偏压,对得到的发射光谱强度变化分析表明,谱线强度随基底正偏压的增加而增大.随着基底负偏压的加入,谱线强度先减小而后增大;直流偏压为-30 V时,光谱强度最弱.快速离子和电子是引起Ar激发和电离过程的主要能量来源.     

Monte Carlo model for the argon ions and fast argon atoms in aradio-frequency discharge

A three-dimensional Monte Carlo model has been developed for the argon ions and fast argon atoms in the RF sheath of a capacitively coupled RF glow discharge in argon. Our interest in the argon ions and fast argon atoms in the RF sheath arises from the fact that the glow discharge under study is used as sputtering source for analytical chemistry. This source operates at typical working conditions of a few torr pressure and about 10 W incoming power. The argon ion and atom Monte Carlo model has been coupled to a hybrid Monte Carlo-fluid model for electrons and argon ions developed before to obtain fully self-consistent results. Typical results of this model include, among others, the densities, fluxes, collision rates, mean energies, and energy distributions of the argon ions and atoms. Moreover, we have investigated how many RF cycles have to be followed before periodic steady state is reached, and the effects of all previous RF cycles are correctly accounted for. This is found to be the case for about 20-25 RF cycles