AVS 47th International Symposium
    Plasma Science and Technology Wednesday Sessions
       Session PS-WeP

Paper PS-WeP6
Plasma-Surface Diagnostics in LAPPS@footnote 1@

Wednesday, October 4, 2000, 11:00 am, Room Exhibit Hall C & D

Session: Poster Session
Presenter: S.G. Walton, NRC Postdoctoral Research Associate
Authors: S.G. Walton, NRC Postdoctoral Research Associate
D. Leonhardt, Naval Research Laboratory
D.D. Blackwell, Naval Research Laboratory
D.P. Murphy, Naval Research Laboratory
R.F. Fernsler, Naval Research Laboratory
R.A. Meger, Naval Research Laboratory
Correspondent: Click to Email
In situ mass and energy resolved measurements of ion and neutral fluxes to a conducting electrode surface in NRL's Large Area Plasma Processing System (LAPPS) are presented. LAPPS uses a magnetically confined sheet of high-energy electrons to ionize a background gas, producing a high-density (10@super 9@-10@super 12@ cm@super -3@) planar plasma that is scalable to large areas (meters@super 2@). The electron beam is produced by a hollow cathode, embedded in a 100-300 Gauss magnetic field and injected into 20-200 mTorr of background gas. Hence, plasma production is decoupled from the reactor geometry, allowing independent positioning and biasing of electrode surfaces. The relative fluxes and energy distributions are reported for a grounded and rf-biased electrode and as a function of plasma-electrode separation. Ion and neutral species are sampled through a small orifice (sub-Debye length diameter) located in the center of the electrode and analyzed via an energy selector in series with a mass spectrometer. Relative fluxes and energy distributions are presented for discharges in Ar, O@sub 2@, Ne, and their mixtures over a range of conditions (pressure, mixture ratios). The results are discussed in terms of materials processing. Additional details concerning LAPPS and its processing applications are presented at this conference@footnote 2@. @FootnoteText@ @footnote 1@ Work supported by the Office of Naval Research. @footnote 2@ See presentations by co-authors at this conference.