SPATIALLY AVERAGED (GLOBAL) MODEL OF TIME MODULATED HIGH-DENSITY ARGON PLASMAS

The behavior of argon plasmas driven by time modulated power in ''high density'' plasma reactors is investigated using a global model. The t ime evolution of the electron temperature and the plasma density is ca lculated by solving the particle and energy balance equations. In the first stage of power application during the ''on'' time, the electron temperature rapidly increases above the steady state value. In this re gion, charged particles accumulate in the plasma due to the relatively higher power applied than for the continuous wave (cw) case. In the f irst stage of the ''off'' time, the electron temperature drops quickly , yielding a smaller particle loss (Bohm) velocity. These effects give rise to higher time-average plasma densities than for the cw plasma d riven by the same average power. The highest average plasma density ob tained was more than twice the density of the cw plasma for a duty rat io of 25%. Even higher plasma densities were obtained for shorter duty ratios. The possibility of controlling chemical reactions in the plas ma by changing the modulation period is also shown. (C) 1995 American Vacuum Society.