Spatial symmetry breaking in single-frequency CCP discharge with transverse magnetic field

Abstract

An independent control of the flux and energy of ions impacting on an object immersed in a plasma is often desirable for many industrial processes such as microelectronics manufacturing. We demonstrate that a simultaneous control of these quantities is possible by a suitable choice of a static magnetic field applied parallel to the plane electrodes in a standard single frequency capacitively coupled plasma device. Our particle-in-cell simulations show a 60% reduction in the sheath width (that improves control of ion energy) and a four fold increase in the ion flux at the electrode as a consequence of the altered ion and electron dynamics due to the ambient magnetic field. A detailed analysis of the particle dynamics is presented and the optimized operating parameters of the device are discussed. The present technique offers a simple and attractive alternative to conventional dual frequency based devices that often suffer from undesirable limitations arising from frequency coupling and electromagnetic effects.

6 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (2)

• Validation and benchmarking of two particle-in-cell codes for a glow discharge
• Structure of Velocity Distribution of Sheath-Accelerated Secondary Electrons in Asymmetric RF-DC Discharge

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Investigating the effects of electron bounce-cyclotron resonance on plasma dynamics in capacitive discharges operated in the presence of a weak transverse magnetic field
• Self-bias voltage formation and charged particle dynamics in multi-frequency capacitively coupled plasmas
• Flux and energy asymmetry in a low pressure capacitively coupled plasma discharge excited by sawtooth-like waveform -- a harmonic study
• Discharge characteristics of a low-pressure geometrically asymmetric cylindrical capacitively coupled plasma with an axisymmetric magnetic field