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Indexed by:期刊论文

Date of Publication:2017-07-01

Journal:PHYSICS OF PLASMAS

Included Journals:SCIE、EI、Scopus

Volume:24

Issue:7

ISSN No.:1070-664X

Abstract:Spatial distributions of plasma parameters have been investigated by a Langmuir probe in a hydrogen inductively coupled plasma with an expansion region. The influence of the gas pressure and the radio-frequency power on the electron energy probability function (EEPF), electron density, and electron temperature has been presented. The results indicate that the EEPF evolves from a bi-Maxwellian distribution in the discharge driver region to a Maxwellian distribution in the expansion region at low pressures, whereas it is always characterized by a Maxwellian distribution at high pressures. Moreover, the electron density exhibits a bell-shaped profile in the driver region, while the electron temperature shows a relatively uniform distribution there, and they decrease to low values in the expansion region. In order to verify the experimental results, we use the COMSOL simulation software to calculate the electron density and electron temperature at different powers at 2 Pa. The simulated and measured axial distributions of the plasma properties agree well except for the absolute value, i.e., the calculated electron temperature is higher at all the RF powers, and the calculated electron density is underestimated at 2 kW, while a better agreement is obtained at low RF power. Published by AIP Publishing.