E→H mode transition density and power in two types of inductively coupled plasma configuration

E -> H transition power and density were investigated at various argon pressures in inductively coupled plasma (ICP) in a cylindrical interlaid chamber. The transition power versus the pressure shows a minimum transition power at 4 Pa (nu/omega = 1) for argon. Then the transition density hardly changes at low pressures (nu/omega << x 1), but it increases clearly when argon pressure exceeds an appropriate value. In addition, both the transition power and transition density are lower in the re-entrant configuration of ICP compared with that in the cylindrical configuration of ICP. The result may be caused from the decrease of stochastic heating in the re-entrant configuration of ICP. This work is useful to understand E -> H mode transition and control the transition points in real plasma processes. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.