M. Baeva et al., EXPERIMENTAL AND THEORETICAL-STUDIES OF A PULSED MICROWAVE EXCITED ARCF4 PLASMA/, Plasma chemistry and plasma processing, 18(4), 1998, pp. 429-446
The present work deals with a pulsed microwave discharge in an Ar/CF4
gas mixture under a low pressure (1-10 mbar). The discharge chamber de
veloped has a cylindrical geometry with a coupling window alternativel
y made of quartz or alumina. The setup allows one to investigate the p
lasma-wall interactions (here etching of the quartz window) and the ig
nition process of the pulsed microwave plasma. Microwave pulses with a
a duration of 50-200 mu s and repetition rate between 1 and 10 kHz ar
e typical for the experiments. The space-time behavior of the fluorine
number density in the discharge has been investigated experimentally
by optical actinometry. The discharge kinetics is modeled using electr
on-transport parameter sand rate coefficients derived from solutions o
f the Boltzmann equation. Together with the solution of the continuity
and electron balance equations and the rate equations describing the
production of CFx(x = 2, 3, 4) radicals and F atoms, a good agreement
between experimental and theoretical data can be achieved.