Separate control of the ion flux and ion energy in capacitively coupled rf discharges using voltage waveform tailoring

Trevor Lafleur (1, 2) , Pierre-Alexandre Delattre , E.V. Johnson , Jean-Paul Booth (2)

1 CNES - Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse]
2 LPP - Laboratoire de Physique des Plasmas

We experimentally characterize an argon plasma in a geometrically symmetric, capacitively coupled rf discharge, excited by pulse-type tailored waveforms (generated using multiple voltage harmonics). The results confirm a number of predictions made by recent particle-in-cell simulations of a similar system and demonstrate a unique form of control over the ion flux and ion energy in capacitively coupled plasmas; by increasing the number of applied harmonics (equivalent to decreasing the pulse width), it is possible to increase the plasma density and ion flux (together with the power deposition) while keeping the average ion energy on one of the electrodes low and constant.

Domaines: Physique des plasmas [physics.plasm-ph]

Trevor Lafleur, Pierre-Alexandre Delattre, E.V. Johnson, Jean-Paul Booth. Separate control of the ion flux and ion energy in capacitively coupled rf discharges using voltage waveform tailoring. Applied Physics Letters, 2012, 101, pp.124104. ⟨10.1063/1.4754692⟩. ⟨hal-01549435⟩