Ion kinetics in an ECR plasma source

In plasma reactors it is extremely important the study for achieving greater control of critical parameters such as the flux velocities and the energy distribution of ions. These quantities are functions of the reactor physical dimensions, magnetic field profile as well as the kinetic chemical react...

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Date:2002
Main Author: Gutiérrez-Tapia, C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Національний науковий центр «Харківський фізико-технічний інститут» НАН України 2002
Series:Вопросы атомной науки и техники
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Online Access:https://nasplib.isofts.kiev.ua/handle/123456789/80327
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Cite this:Ion kinetics in an ECR plasma source / C. Gutiérrez-Tapia // Вопросы атомной науки и техники. — 2002. — № 4. — С. 170-172. — Бібліогр.: 5 назв. — англ.

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spelling nasplib_isofts_kiev_ua-123456789-803272025-02-09T09:47:29Z Ion kinetics in an ECR plasma source Gutiérrez-Tapia, C. Low temperature plasma and plasma technologies In plasma reactors it is extremely important the study for achieving greater control of critical parameters such as the flux velocities and the energy distribution of ions. These quantities are functions of the reactor physical dimensions, magnetic field profile as well as the kinetic chemical reactions occurring in the discharge. In this work, a model previously reported in [1] is improved. In that model using the drift kinetic equation approach the axial and radial ion fluxes at processing zone of an ECR plasma source are calculated. Now, the ionization rates are calculated from the energy distribution function obtained by a regularization method and using the experimental data of the electric probe measurements. Also, a more exact calculation of the external magnetic field is included. This work was patially supported by project CONACyT 33873-E 2002 Article Ion kinetics in an ECR plasma source / C. Gutiérrez-Tapia // Вопросы атомной науки и техники. — 2002. — № 4. — С. 170-172. — Бібліогр.: 5 назв. — англ. 1562-6016 PACS: 52.50.-b https://nasplib.isofts.kiev.ua/handle/123456789/80327 en Вопросы атомной науки и техники application/pdf Національний науковий центр «Харківський фізико-технічний інститут» НАН України
institution Digital Library of Periodicals of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
collection DSpace DC
language English
topic Low temperature plasma and plasma technologies
Low temperature plasma and plasma technologies
spellingShingle Low temperature plasma and plasma technologies
Low temperature plasma and plasma technologies
Gutiérrez-Tapia, C.
Ion kinetics in an ECR plasma source
Вопросы атомной науки и техники
description In plasma reactors it is extremely important the study for achieving greater control of critical parameters such as the flux velocities and the energy distribution of ions. These quantities are functions of the reactor physical dimensions, magnetic field profile as well as the kinetic chemical reactions occurring in the discharge. In this work, a model previously reported in [1] is improved. In that model using the drift kinetic equation approach the axial and radial ion fluxes at processing zone of an ECR plasma source are calculated. Now, the ionization rates are calculated from the energy distribution function obtained by a regularization method and using the experimental data of the electric probe measurements. Also, a more exact calculation of the external magnetic field is included.
format Article
author Gutiérrez-Tapia, C.
author_facet Gutiérrez-Tapia, C.
author_sort Gutiérrez-Tapia, C.
title Ion kinetics in an ECR plasma source
title_short Ion kinetics in an ECR plasma source
title_full Ion kinetics in an ECR plasma source
title_fullStr Ion kinetics in an ECR plasma source
title_full_unstemmed Ion kinetics in an ECR plasma source
title_sort ion kinetics in an ecr plasma source
publisher Національний науковий центр «Харківський фізико-технічний інститут» НАН України
publishDate 2002
topic_facet Low temperature plasma and plasma technologies
url https://nasplib.isofts.kiev.ua/handle/123456789/80327
citation_txt Ion kinetics in an ECR plasma source / C. Gutiérrez-Tapia // Вопросы атомной науки и техники. — 2002. — № 4. — С. 170-172. — Бібліогр.: 5 назв. — англ.
series Вопросы атомной науки и техники
work_keys_str_mv AT gutierreztapiac ionkineticsinanecrplasmasource
first_indexed 2025-11-25T14:07:32Z
last_indexed 2025-11-25T14:07:32Z
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fulltext ION KINETICS IN AN ECR PLASMA SOURCE* César Gutiérrez-Tapia, Departamento de Física, Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Nucleares, Apartado Postal 18-1027, Col. Escandón, México 11801 D. F. In plasma reactors it is extremely important the study for achieving greater control of critical parameters such as the flux velocities and the energy distribution of ions. These quantities are functions of the reactor physical dimensions, magnetic field profile as well as the kinetic chemical reactions occurring in the discharge. In this work, a model previously reported in [1] is improved. In that model using the drift kinetic equation approach the axial and radial ion fluxes at processing zone of an ECR plasma source are calculated. Now, the ionization rates are calculated from the energy distribution function obtained by a regularization method and using the experimental data of the electric probe measurements. Also, a more exact calculation of the external magnetic field is included. PACS: 52.50.-b 1.BASIC EQUATIONS In reactor region of an ECR plasma source, the geometry of the external field ),( trBB = is not uniform. For the case of an ECR plasma source, the magnetic field is strong enough to satisfy 1/ < <= LLρδ , (1) where L is the characteristic plasma length and ZeBcvmiL /⊥=ρ is the ion Larmor radius, c is the speed of light in vacuum and Ze is the ion charge. The condition (1) is sufficient to apply the drift kinetic theory [2,3] adopted along the entire work. The approximate version of the drift kinetic equation, reported in [2,3], is assumed appropriate in the small gyroradius limit (1). From condition (1), one can obtain the drift kinetic equations in coordinates ( )tU ,,,, γµr : ( ) ( ) ,|| || C U f t A c e t B t e f dt df t f i DD i cg iDD i = ∂ ∂     ∂ ∂⋅++− ∂ ∂+ ∂ ∂ + ∂ ∂ +∇⋅+++ ∂ ∂ uvv uvv µφ µ µ (2) where ∫= γdff ii is the average part of the ion distribution function with respect to the phase γ ; C is the collision operator which includes charge-exchange (cx), elastic collisions (el) and gas ionization by electron impact at the rate e vσ , φ is the electrostatic potential, A is the vector potential, and cmZeB ic /=ω is the cyclotron frequency. U is the total particle energy, given by . 22 22 || φe vmvm U ii −+= ⊥ (3) µ is the magnetic moment and DD uvv ,,|| , are the components of the total drift velocity. In this method the parallel and perpendicular particle fluxes are defined as , ,3 ||||     ×∇−+= = ⊥ ⊥ ∫ Bm Pnnn vdfn ci DD i ω BUVV vV (4) where ∫ ∫∫ = == ⊥ . ; ; 3 33 vdfBP vdfunvdfn i iDDiDD µ UvV (5) The charge-exchange process takes the ions away at a rate vcxσ and returns them to the ion distribution at zero velocity. Elastic collisions takes the ions away at a rate velσ and return them isotropically distributed in the center of mass reference frame. Here we will treat the cross sections cxσ and elσ as constants since they are insensitive to the ion energy in the range of energies up to a few eV . In order to solve equation (1) we will assume the following ordering [4]: ( ) ,/1~ τσσσω elcxeci nvn +> >> > (6) where τ is the characteristic discharge time. We also assume that ( ) .1 L n elcx < < + ≡ σσ λ (7) These assumptions allow us to neglect, to lowest order, the time derivatives of if in equation (1) as well as the charge-exchange and elastic collision terms. As a result, equation (2) reduces to [1] ( ) ,0|| ei ci vnnf B B mB v σδ ω µ vBB =∇⋅      ∇×+ (8) where 0n and n are the gas and electron densities, respectively Also it has been used the condition of symmetry in magnetic mirror configurations [1] .0≅×∇ B (9) 170 Problems of Atomic Science and Technology. 2002. № 4. Series: Plasma Physics (7). P. 170-172 2.DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION The component of equation (8) along the magnetic field line near to the axis can be written as ( ) .1 0 || e i vnn vz f σδ v= ∂ ∂ (10) The integration of the last equation results in ( ) ( ) . ,,|| 0∫ ′ ′ = zd Uzv vnn f e i µ σδ v (11) 3.CALCULATION OF ION FLUXES From the definitions of the parallel and perpendicular ion fluxes (4) and using the expression for the distribution function, we obtain [1] , 2 , 0|| 0|| z c e e B vnnv n B zvnnn eBV BV ×= = ⊥ ω σ σ (12) where ze is the unit vector along OZ. The corresponding expressions for the radial and axial components of the ion fluxes are . , 0 0 B BzvnnnV B BzvnnnV z ez r er σ σ = = (13) 4.MAGNETIC FIELD The magnetic field generated by a current sheet formed by L circular current turns is obtained using the superposition principle, where the magnetic field for one of the turns is used to calculate the magnetic field for the whole current sheet ( ) ( ) , 2 , ,, 1 1 ∑ ∑ = =     ∂ ∂ ∂ ∂ += ∂ ∂ ∂ ∂ −= L l l l ll z L l l l l r r k k A r A zrB z k k A zrB θθ θ (14) where L is the total number of current turns in the sheet, and ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) . E K 2 1 4, , 4 1 2 1 2 1 12       −    − ×= −++ = l l l l l l l k k k k k r R c JzrA zzRr rRk θ (15) Here ( )lkK and ( )lkE are the elliptic integrals of the second and first kind respectively. ( )2/1−= ldzl is the left-side position of the current sheet on the z axis. Generalizing to the case of N axially aligned magnet coils we obtain ( ) ( ) ∑∑∑ ∑∑∑ === ===     ∂ ∂ ∂ ∂ += ∂ ∂ ∂ ∂ −= nn nn L l lmn lmn lmnlmn M m N n z L l lmn lmn lmn M m N n r r k k A r A zrB z k k A zrB 111 111 2 , ,, θθ θ (16) where nL and nM are the number of loops in each current sheet and the total number of nested sheets in each of the n-th magnet coil respectively. In this case ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) . E K 2 1 4 , , 4 22 2       −    − ×= −++ = lmn lmn lmn lmn lmn mnn lmn lmn mn lmn k k k k k r R c J zrA zzRr rR k θ (17) The particular case of three coils is illustrated in Fig.1. The axial distributions of the magnetic field components are plotted in Fig. 2. Fig. 1. Schematic representation of an ECR system showing the magnetic system with three coils. 5.DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS In order to prove agreement of the theoretical results with experimental ones, the same parameters as in [5] are used. These parameters are resumed in Table 1. The argon ions are considered in calculations. To calculate the ionization rate, it is of great importance to know the energy distribution function. In the case of low ion temperatures ( iT ≤ 2.5 eV), the maxwellian distribution is a good approximation as can be obtained from the integration of the ion part of the I-V probe characteristic by regularization methods. Using this result, the expression for the ionization rate is calculated. 171 From expressions (13) it is noticed that the radial and axial ion fluxes are directly proportional to the corresponding magnetic field components. Fig. 2. Axial behavior of the axial (solid) and radial (dashed) components of the magnetic field, for different radii. Table 1. Parameters reported in [5] and used to validate the theoretical results of the present work. n0=5.5E11cm3 n =4.6E12cm-3 P=10-4torr Te=3.5eV Ii=13.8eV e vσ =6.24E- 10cm-3/s Ti=0.5eV J1=180A J2=90A J3=70A r1=r2=10.8cm r3=11.4cm L1=L2=14 L3=46 M1=M2=12 M3=5 Z1=0.0cm Z2=24.6cm Z3=74.5 d=0.4cm In Fig. 3, the axial distribution for both the axial and radial ion fluxes As we can see, the axial ion flux always increases. Otherwise, the radial flux shows a strong irregular behavior. Fig.3. Calculated axial ion flux (solid) and experimental points reported in [5] (dashed) using the parameters resumed in Table 1. Fig. 4. Axial distribution of the radial ion flux for several radii. The irregular behavior of the radial ion flux a be the source of the inhomogeneity observed in depositions as is the case of steel nitriding. REFERENCES 1. J. González-Damián and C. Gutiérrez-Tapia, J.Appl.Phys., 90, 1124 (2001). 2. R.D. Hazeltine, Plasma Phys., 15, 77 (1973). 3. F. L. Hinton and R. D. Hazeltine, Rev. Mod. Phys., 48, 239 (1976). 4. B. N. Breizman and A. V. Arefiev, Phys. Plasmas, 9, 1015 (2002). 5. N. Sadegui, T. Nakano, D. J. Trevor, and R. A. Gottscho, J. Appl.Phys., 70, 2552 (1991). *This work was patially supported by project CONACyT 33873-E 172 ION KINETICS IN AN ECR PLASMA SOURCE* REFERENCES