CHARACTERIZATION OF MICROWAVE PLASMA GENERATED IN INHOMOGENEOUS MAGNETIC-FIELD

The paper is devoted to the investigation of the electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) discharge in the decreasing magnetic field in the pressure range from 0.02 Pa to 90 Pa and the absorbed microwave power from 50 W to 400 W. For a discharge characterization we used the floating potential U(fl) and the saturated ion current density i(sat)+. The influence of the substrate holder presence on the plasma microparameters was studied. It was shown that for the substrate holder located near ECR at pressures below 0.3 Pa mainly the magnitude of U(fl) strongly depends on the pressure p, the absorbed microwave power P(a) and the position of the substrate holder with respect to ECR. The values of U(fl) in the plasma in which the substrate holder is inserted strongly differ from those in the plasma without the substrate holder. U(fl) of low pressures p < 0.05 Pa achieves high positive values of about +50 V and this results in sputtering of chamber walls.