A two-dimensional simulation of electron cyclotron resonance plasma and comparison with experimental data

A two-dimensional fluid simulation of argon plasma in an electron cyclotron resonance source was performed and an experiment was conducted to compare the theoretical prediction and experimental measurements. Conservation equa tions for mass, momentum and energy in a multicomponent system were solved based on the finite element method in order to compute the fluid velocity f ield, pressure field, neutral species densities, charged species densities, and electron temperature. By using a Langmuir probe, the variations of ele ctron temperature and electron density along chamber axis were measured fur pressures in the range 0.4-7 mTorr. Simulation results agreed favorably wi th experimental data. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.