E-H mode transition in inductively coupled plasma using Ar, O2, N2, and mixture gas

A study of the E-H mode transition was performed in Ar, O-2, N-2, and mixture gas inductively coupled plasma (ICP) from the measurement of the electron energy distribution function (EEDF). Changes of the EEDF and characteristics of the discharge on the E-H mode transition were discussed. At each E-mode, the measured EEDFs had different shapes depending on the gas type and pressure, while the EEDFs evolved into Maxwellian distribution with the E-H transition due to electron-electron collisions. This study was also focused on the transition ICP power when the discharge transits from E-mode to H-mode. As the ICP power increased in Ar discharge, the transition ICP power had minimum value at a particular pressure, while the transition ICP power was gradually increased with gas pressures in molecule gas discharge. The transition ICP power with gas mixing ratios was also studied in Ar/O-2/N-2 mixture gas discharge. (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier B. V.