AVS 59th Annual International Symposium and Exhibition
    Plasma Science and Technology Monday Sessions
       Session PS2-MoA

Paper PS2-MoA10
Multi-Peaked and Stepped Electron Velocity Distributions in RF-DC Discharges with Secondary Emission

Monday, October 29, 2012, 5:00 pm, Room 25

Session: Plasma Modeling
Presenter: A.V. Khrabrov, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
Authors: A.V. Khrabrov, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
I.D. Kaganovich, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
D. Sydorenko, University of Alberta, Canada
E. Tokluoglu, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
E.A. Startsev, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
L. Chen, Tokyo Electron America
P. Ventzek, Tokyo Electron America
R. Sundararajan, Tokyo Electron America
Correspondent: Click to Email
In RF-DC (hybrid) capacitive-coupled discharges, secondary electrons emitted from the electrodes undergo a complicated motion defined by acceleration in, and bouncing between a steady and an oscillating sheath. For the electrons that return to the RF electrode, the arrival phase is a multi-valued function of the phase in which they were emitted. This basic property leads to a velocity distribution with multiple peaks. The phase of arrival can also be discontinuous, which corresponds to a distribution containing steps. We have observed such distributions in numerical test-particle simulations, and analyzed the observed structure of the electron distributions.