Plasma non-uniformity in a symmetric radiofrequency capacitively-coupled reactor with dielectric side-wall: a two dimensional particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo collision simulation

Liu, Y.; Booth, Jean‐Paul; Chabert, Pascal

doi:10.1088/1361-6595/aaa86e

Cited by 27 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…The impact of external circuits is not our primary interest in the present work. Although previous studies observed symmetric and asymmetric structures through 2D PIC simulations, [9][10][11][12][13][14][15]17,18] they did not observe nonlocal kinetic effects by particle dynamics sensitive to the time change. The previous study for the nonlocal effect observed time-averaged and spatiotemporal profiles for a specific pressure condition of 100 mTorr.…”

Section: Simulation Conditionsmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…Studies on various kinetic effects in 2D CCP structures have recently been reported, even for high-pressure regimes. [7,[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] This study analyzed the transition between nonlocal and local kinetics in CCP equipment using a 2D GPU PIC simulation with various control parameters. The spatial profiles of density, flux, power absorption, and collisions have been observed for the variation of gas pressure, gap distance, and driving voltage.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Two‐dimensional analysis for the transition from nonlocal to local electron kinetics and its effect on the spatial uniformity of a capacitively coupled plasma

Kim

Park

et al. 2022

Plasma Processes & Polymers

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In capacitively coupled plasmas (CCPs) operated under various pressure conditions in semiconductor manufacturing processes, the transition in discharge characteristics is observed depending on local or nonlocal electron kinetics. A two‐dimensional (2D) particle‐in‐cell (PIC) simulation is required because the one‐dimensional PIC method cannot capture the effect of device structures and because fluid models cannot treat the self‐consistent change in the energy distributions. Using a 2D PIC simulation parallelized with a graphics processing unit, we investigated the transition of electron kinetics for the variation of the driving voltage, gas pressure, the gap distance between upper and lower electrodes, and the sidewall condition. Moreover, the mechanism for electron energy relaxation in a CCP is elucidated to develop a method to improve the process uniformity.

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Section: Simulation Conditionsmentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Two‐dimensional analysis for the transition from nonlocal to local electron kinetics and its effect on the spatial uniformity of a capacitively coupled plasma

Kim

Park

et al. 2022

Plasma Processes & Polymers

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“…Surendra and Dalvie [22] were the first to set up a mathematical model to describe the electron power absorbed using the Boltzmann equation for both electrons and ions using the PIC results as input. In the years that followed several authors used the formulation set by Surendra and Dalvie [22] to develop similar models inspired by the their results [23][24][25][26][27][28][29]. Among these Brinkmann [27] derived a unified description of electron power absorption in capacitively coupled discharges using a mathematical formulation where the electron density profile has been approximated by a smooth step function, finding that the total time averaged electron power absorption is the sum of four terms, each one corresponding to one of the heating mechanism knows from separate previous theories, i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electron power absorption dynamics in a low pressure radio frequency driven capacitively coupled discharge in oxygen

Proto

Guðmundsson

2020

Journal of Applied Physics

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We use the one-dimensional object-oriented particle-in-cell Monte Carlo collision code oopd1 to explore the properties and the origins of both the electric field and electron power absorption within the plasma bulk for a capacitively coupled oxygen discharge operated at 10 and 100 mTorr for 45 mm of gap distance. The properties of the electric field at three different time slices as well as time averaged have been explored considering the moments of the Boltzmann equation. The electron power absorption is distinctly different at these operating pressures. The most relevant contributions to the electric field at different time steps come from the pressure terms, the ambipolar and the electron temperature gradient terms, along with the ohmic term. The same applies for the electron power absorption. At both 10 and 100 mTorr the relative ohmic contribution to the electron power absorption remains roughly the same, while the ambipolar term contributes to power absorption and the temperature gradient term to electron cooling at 100 mTorr, and the opposite applies at 10 mTorr. At 100 mTorr the discharge is weekly electronegative, and electron power absorption is mainly due to sheath expansion while at 10 mTorr it is strongly electronegative, and the electron power absorption occurs mainly within the electronegative core and drift-ambipolar mode dominates. The agreement between the calculated values and the simulations is good for both the electric field and the electron power absorption within the plasma bulk and in the collapsed sheath region for all the cases considered.

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“…These dielectrics are modeled by extending the simulation grid and solving Poisson's equation inside the dielectric layer while taking into account the surface charges that build up at the plasma-wall interface. [56][57][58] This setup is illustrated in Figure 2.…”

Section: Thruster Wallsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of alternative propellants on the electron drift instability in Hall-effect thrusters: Insight from 2D particle-in-cell simulations

et al. 2018

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Hall-effect thrusters (HETs) operated with xenon are one of the most commonly used electric propulsion technologies for a wide range of space missions, including drag compensation in low Earth orbit, stationkeeping, and orbital insertion, as access to space becomes more affordable. Although anomalous electron transport, the electron drift instability (EDI), and secondary electron emission (SEE) have been studied experimentally and numerically in xenon-based HETs, the impact of alternative propellants is still poorly characterized. In this work, a two-dimensional particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo collision (PIC/MCC) code is used to model the (r − θ) plane of a HET operated separately with four different noble gases: xenon, krypton, argon, and helium. Models for electron induced secondary electron emission (SEE) and dielectric walls are implemented in order to investigate the coupling between the propellant choice and the radial thruster walls. For all conditions and propellants studied, an EDI and enhanced electron cross-field transport are observed. The frequency of the instability, as well as the electron mobility, are compared with analytical expressions from a recently developed kinetic theory. Confirming this theory, it is shown that while the frequency of the EDI depends on the propellant mass, the electron mobility appears to be almost independent of the propellant choice.

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Plasma non-uniformity in a symmetric radiofrequency capacitively-coupled reactor with dielectric side-wall: a two dimensional particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo collision simulation

Cited by 27 publications

References 55 publications

Two‐dimensional analysis for the transition from nonlocal to local electron kinetics and its effect on the spatial uniformity of a capacitively coupled plasma

Two‐dimensional analysis for the transition from nonlocal to local electron kinetics and its effect on the spatial uniformity of a capacitively coupled plasma

Electron power absorption dynamics in a low pressure radio frequency driven capacitively coupled discharge in oxygen

The effect of alternative propellants on the electron drift instability in Hall-effect thrusters: Insight from 2D particle-in-cell simulations

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