Numerical simulations of electrical asymmetry effect on electronegative plasmas in capacitively coupled rf discharge

Recently a so-called electrical asymmetry effect (EAE), which could achieve high-degree separate control of ion flux and energy in dual-frequency capacitively coupled radio-frequency (CCRF) discharges, was discovered theoretically by Heil et al. [J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 41, 165202 (2008)] and was confirmed by experiments and theory/numerical simulations later on for electropositive argon discharges. In this work simulations based on particle-in-cell/Monte Carlo collision are performed to study the EAE on electronegative oxygen plasmas in geometrically symmetric CCRF discharges. Dual frequency discharges operating at 13.56 and 27.12 MHz are simulated for different pressures and the results are compared with those of electropositive argon discharges at the same conditions. It is found that in general the EAE on oxygen discharges has similar behavior as on argon discharge: The self-bias voltage eta increases monotonically and almost linearly with the increase in the phase angle theta between the two driving voltages in the range 0 < theta < 90 degrees, and the maximum ion energy varies by a factor of 3 by adjusting theta. However, the ion flux varies with theta by +/- 12% for low pressure and by +/- 15% for higher pressure, due primarily to an enhanced plasma series resonance, which then leads to dramatic changes in plasma density, power absorption and consequently the electronegativity. This may place a limitation for achieving separate control of ion energy and flux for electronegative plasma via the EAE. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3530626]