[en] The inductively coupled plasma (ICP) device is one of the high-density plasma sources being used for the present integrated circuit etching process on an ultra-large scale. Here, we develop a Fokker-Planck code for the ICP source, and evaluate an electron energy diffusion coefficient based on the solution of the wave equations for an ICP reactor. The electron energy distribution function (EEDF) dependence on various external parameters, such as wave frequency, gas pressure and magnetic field, is investigated using the Fokker-Planck code. The effects of changing external parameters on ICP heating characteristics are also discussed. It is shown that the heating of low-energy electrons is enhanced with increasing system collisionality, which is defined as the ratio of collision frequency to effective wave frequency

[en] Electron energy distribution functions (EEDFs) of low pressure O₂ plasma were measured by adding small amount of coil power in a capacitive discharge. When the plasma was generated by bias power only, the measured EEDF showed a bi-Maxwellian distribution. However, when a very small coil power (a few Watts) was added, the EEDF evolved abruptly into a Maxwellian distribution, while the electron density was decreased. In an Ar/O₂ mixture discharge, this EEDF evolution to the Maxwellian was also observed at a relatively higher coil power. This abrupt change in EEDFs with a very small coil power appears to be attributed to a combined effect of collisionless heating by capacitive and induced electric fields.

[en] When a small ac voltage with two frequencies was biased to a probe in low pressure inductively coupled plasma, sideband current signals were observed. It was found that two frequencies of the small bias voltage are mutually modulated in the plasma, and this modulation results in the sideband current signals. Experiments for measurement of the sidebands were carried out at various pressures, correlations between the sidebands and the plasma state were investigated. The sidebands were not observed when the plasma was not generated; therefore these signals were produced by the nonlinearity of the sheath. The electron temperature could be obtained from the sideband signals, and it was in good agreement with that from a single Langmuir Probe.

[en] Changes in the plasma non-uniformity and the electron energy distribution function (EEDF) by increasing RF bias power were observed in inductively coupled plasma using spatially resolved radial EEDF measurements. As the bias power was increased at a fixed ICP power at a low gas pressure, The EEDF was evolved from a bi-Maxwellian to a Maxwellian distribution. The plasma density was decreased in all radial positions and thus plasma non-uniformity was slightly changed. However, strongly improved plasma spatial non-uniformity was observed at a high gas pressure with a decrease in the center-plasma density and an increase in the radial edge-plasma density. This result could be understood by combined effects of the ion acceleration loss and the non-uniform power deposition due to the RF bias power.

[en] We show experimental observations of collisionless electron heating by the combinations of the capacitive radio frequency (RF) bias power and the inductive power in low argon gas pressure RF biased inductively coupled plasma (ICP). With small RF bias powers in the ICP, the electron energy distribution (EED) evolved from bi-Maxwellian distribution to Maxwellian distribution by enhanced plasma bulk heating and the collisionless sheath heating was weak. In the capacitive RF bias dominant regime, however, high energy electrons by the RF bias were heated on the EEDs in the presence of the ICP. The collisionless heating mechanism of the high energy electrons transited from collisionless inductive heating to capacitive coupled collisionless heating by the electron bounce resonance in the RF biased ICP.

[en] Spatially resolved measurements of electron energy distribution functions (EEDFs) are investigated in inductively coupled plasmas with two planar antenna coils. When the plasma is sustained by the antenna with a diameter of 18 cm, the nonlocal kinetics is preserved in the argon gas pressure range from 2 mTorr to 20 mTorr. However, electron kinetics transit from nonlocal kinetics to local kinetics in discharge sustained by the antenna coil with diameter 34 cm. The results suggest that antenna size as well as chamber length are important parameters for the transition of the electron kinetics. Spatial variations of plasma potential, effective electron temperature, and EEDF in terms of total electron energy scale are also presented

[en] [Chen and Arnush Phys. Plasmas 8, 5051 (2001)] theoretically showed that the floating potential is not constant but a function of electron density and the potential difference between the floating potential and the plasma potential differs significantly from the plane probe approximation. The electron energy distribution functions (EEDFs) in an inductively coupled plasma are measured to investigate the effect of the EEDF on the floating potential at argon pressures of 2 and 10 mTorr with respect to rf power. It is found that the measured EEDFs at 2 mTorr were bi-Maxwellian EEDFs with a high-energy tail and the potential differences were governed by the high electron temperatures. In the case of 10 mTorr, the measured EEDFs were nearly Maxwellian EEDFs at 10 mTorr and the potential difference agrees qualitatively with the theory of Chen and Arnush assuming that the electron energy distribution is a Maxwellian EEDF

[en] In plasma, the Boltzmann relation is often used to connect the electron density to the plasma potential because it is not easy to calculate electric potentials on the basis of the Poisson equation due to the quasineutrality. From the Boltzmann relation, the electric potential can be simply obtained from the electron density or vice versa. However, the Boltzmann relation assumes that electrons are in thermal equilibrium and have a Maxwellian distribution, so it cannot be applied to non-Maxwellian distributions. In this paper, the Boltzmann relation for bi-Maxwellian distributions was newly derived from fluid equations and the comparison with the experimental results was given by measuring electron energy probability functions in an inductively coupled plasma. It was found that the spatial distribution of the electron density in bulk plasma is governed by the effective electron temperature, while that of the cold and hot electrons are governed by each electron temperature.

[en] Contribution of stepwise ionization to total ionization was experimentally investigated in low-pressure inductively coupled argon plasmas. In the pressure range 3-50 mTorr, optical emission spectroscopy was employed to determine metastable fractions (metastable density relative to ground state density) by measuring the emission intensity of selected lines. The measured metastable fractions were in good agreement with the calculation, showing a dependence on the discharge pressure. The rate of stepwise ionization was estimated from the excited level densities (measurements and model predictions) and their ionization rate coefficients. It is observed that at relatively low discharge pressures (<10 mTorr) the ionization is mainly provided by the direct ionization, whereas at higher pressure the stepwise ionization is predominant with increasing absorbed power.

[en] Electron energy distribution functions (EEDFs) were determined from probe characteristics using a numerical ac superimposed method with a distortion correction of high derivative terms by varying amplitude of a sinusoidal perturbation voltage superimposed onto the dc sweep voltage, depending on the related electron energy. Low amplitude perturbation applied around the plasma potential represented the low energy peak of the EEDF exactly, and high amplitude perturbation applied around the floating potential was effective to suppress noise or distortion of the probe characteristic, which is fatal to the tail electron distribution. When a small random noise was imposed over the stabilized prove characteristic, the numerical differentiation method was not suitable to determine the EEDF, while the numerical ac superimposed method was able to obtain a highly precise EEDF.