Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2012
Abstract
The H mode transition and maintenance currents in a 13.56 MHz laboratory 6 turn planar coil inductively coupled plasma (ICP) reactor are simulated for low pressure argon discharge range of 0.02-0.3 mbar with neutral gas heating and at ambient temperature. An experimentally fitted 3D power evolution plot for 0.02 mbar argon pressure is also shown to visualize the effects of hysteresis in the system. Comparisons between simulation and experimental measurements show good agreement in the pressure range of 0.02-0.3 mbar for transition currents and 0.02-0.1 mbar for maintenance currents only when neutral gas heating is considered. This suggests that neutral gas heating plays a non-negligible role in determining the mode transition points of a rf ICP system.
Keywords
Argon discharges, Argon pressure, Experimental measurements, ICP systems, Inductively coupled plasma reactor, Low pressures, Mode transitions, Neutral gas, Planar coil, Pressure ranges, Inductively coupled plasma, Maintenance, Gas heating
Divisions
PHYSICS
Publication Title
Physics of Plasmas
Volume
19
Issue
11